Fighter of the Forest
by OracleVortex
Summary: LoZ:OoT AU! CH12 UPDATED ON 17OCT07! The Jewels of Power are stolen by Ganon, leaving Link locked in the Sacred Realm. 7 years later, Link is back with the Master Sword and with the help of Sheik, must return life to Hyrule and defeat the Dark King.
1. The Prologue

Fighter of the Forest

By OracleVortex

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I had this idea when I was sitting in class the other day, TOTALLY bored, and this idea popped into my head. It's a parody, so most of it is exclusively mine…sorta….

Disclaimer: I own nothing that is related to Zelda…all original ideas are mine, however.

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Prologue

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Each time a new life is brought into the world, it is a new and delicate thing. Life is a gift, a responsibility and a right. Life is a miricle. It is nether good nor bad, nor repetitive. It is innocence in it's purest form, it is simplicity and complication and it is just life. 

Life is the most precious thing in the Lost Woods, home of the Kokiri. Each and every individual in that forest was created from the light and power of the Kokiri Emerald. Every first-born of every species was born from that jewel. Now, it only gives birth to the Kokiri. If it were to break or fade into darkness, eventually the whole of Hyrule would follow it, and the source and vibrant hum of light would be cut off.

But that's not likely to happen, is it?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ooh… * creepy music plays * Isn't that just a lot bit FORESHADOWING???

Yep… This is going to be a Link/Sheik pairing, so if guy/guy relations freak you out, then don't bother even getting into the story…actually, if guy/guy parings give you the willies, then read on! Maybe I can change your mind in this instance. 

Next chapp will be in a little while- and it'll be more story-like…you know me…formal blurb as a prologue…kinda sets the mood, I think…

OracleVortex


	2. Set Into Motion

Fighter of the Forest Chapter One: Set Into Motion ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Disclaimer: I own nuthin'.  
  
Hi everybody!  
  
Back with another chapter of my Zelda Parody!! Yay!! This is a beginning chapter all about getting things going. Stuff will be defended and things will be changed around, so PAY ATTENTION! Or read it again.whichever.  
  
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Saria watched silently as the Great Deku Tree let the Kokiri Emerald dangle in the air in front of her. It was the third day of fall, and it had been decided that another Kokiri would be brought into the world. She watched with familiar fascination as a figure formed in the vitalizing light.  
  
The low pounding of a running horse echoed through the meadow. Branches creaked as the Great Deku Tree moved slightly. A dark man appeared, his clothes as black as the horse that he rode on. He stopped inches in front of Saria, causing her to skip backwards. His cold eyes were on the Deku Tree.  
  
"Who art thou," the Deku Tree rumbled, "To enter this forest? Only thee in Farore's care dwell here."  
  
The man laughed, the evil sound causing Saria to shiver. "I am Ganon. Remember it well, old tree, for I will rule all of Hyrule, and all will bow before me."  
  
"Leave this place." The Deku tree commanded. "Thou hast no power here."  
  
"Of course not," Ganon agreed, "But I will take the object that does!" With lightening speed, he threw out a gloved hand and snatched up the Kokiri Emerald.  
  
"No!" The Deku Tree cried. "Return the stone!'  
  
"Fool." Ganon laughed. "I will not concede so easily." He tucked the emerald into a vest pocket. "Once I have collected all three of the Spiritual Stones, you will see the true power of the jewels!" He spurred his horse and galloped away, a nasty grin of triumph on his face.  
  
Saria was in tears, cradling the limp body of the newborn Kokiri. Saria held the lifeless shell in her arms, sobbing uncontrollably. In the forest of the Deku Tree, life was highly valued above everything else. To have a Kokiri be born without the completion of the ceremony was to have the body, but not the soul.  
  
The voice of the Deku Tree was worried as he spoke. "Oh, Navi the faerie.dost thou hear me?"  
  
A glowing blue light materialized out of thin air. "Yes, Great Deku Tree?"  
  
"Thou hast been my most loyal friend in all of these long years.dost thou know of the prophecy of the great fire?"  
  
Saria watched as the faerie bobbed in the air, apparently nodding. "Yes, great one."  
  
The Deku Tree sighed. "Then know that the day of the journey has come. It is time for the boy without a faerie to leave this place."  
  
Saria didn't know exactly what the Deku Tree and Navi the faerie were talking about, but she felt the need to interrupt. "Uh-Great Deku Tree, if I may intrude?" The leader nodded. "What of this body?" She indicated the newborn Kokiri. "The ceremony was incomplete.she has no soul."  
  
The Deku gazed at the shell with unblinking eyes. "Navi, thou shall leave this place, but to do so as a faerie is to die. Thou know what thou must do."  
  
Navi bobbed in the air, and then went to the newborn Kokiri. The body glowed with a bright light, shimmering with the dust of a forest faerie. Colorless eyes blinked open.  
  
"Navi?" Saria whispered, seeing that her faerie friend had vanished into the body. The girl sat up.  
  
"Saria." She stared at her hands in an almost fascinated fashion. Flexing her fingers, she braced herself against the ground as she tried to stand. Wobbling on new legs, she stood, with Saria's assistance.  
  
The Deku Tree nodded with approval. "Go, now, to the child of Destiny. Bring him to me."  
  
Saria and Navi bowed slightly. "As you wish." Navi said.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Eyes, red as an evening sunset, and as warm as the rising sun. They stared at him in a curious manner, blinking with pale blonde lashes. He could sense a mysterious air about the person, but he didn't know who he was.  
  
Link rolled over, falling out of his bed with a low thump. The pale sheet that had covered his legs fluttered away, and he blew his long bangs out of his eyes. Eyes. He had dreamt about those strange red eyes.again.  
  
Pushing himself off of the floor, Link stretched away lasting sleepiness. He was thin and slim, and by far on\e of the tallest of the Kokiri. Now that he was at his fifteenth year of age, he probably wouldn't grow much more. As one of the Kokiri, he would be a child as long as he lived.  
  
Link tossed an apple in the air, grabbing his spear as he did so. With one quick swipe, he sent the fruit flying, and into a sharp web of twine hanging in the ccorner of the room. It connected and split, pushed through by the force of Link's hit. Going over to the web, Link picked up the apple slices, shaking off the swet juice. That one small action, as quick as it was, was only an insight into the true skills that Link had.  
  
The Kokiri were the strange and unknow people of the Lost Woods, where only children could survive. Their leader, the Deku Tree, was their caretaker and parental figure. All Kokiri were the children of the forest, creation of the Kokiri Emerald, and the race favoured by the Goddess, Farore. Farore gave them the gift of being the source of all life; because of this, they had to ding a way to protect them, should one get through the misleading power of the Lost Woods. The Kokiri built a great temple in the depths of the forest, making its sole purpose to be a training ground for the body and the mind. There were two types of people that were sent to study there; the staff/slingshot fighters, and the wise diplomats. Link was in the first group.  
  
"Link!" A voice drifted to the child's ears, carried into the house from outside. Link smiled, recognising it as the voice of his best friend, Saria. He moved out onto the balcony, smiling easily.  
  
"Good mor-"  
  
"Link!" Saria stopped at the foot of his tree house. "Something has happened! You must come to the Deku Tree at once!"  
  
Link's eyes narrowed, as he reached inside his house. Grabbing his spear and his supply bag, he turned a perfect flip over the house railing. Landing on the ground below, he squinted at his friend. "What's going on?"  
  
"There is no time to talk now." Unnoticed until now, Link turned to look at the new speaker. He had never seen her before. Her hair was short and straight, a strange blonde-green colour. She wore a basic green dress, dropping to her knees and belted at the waist. Leaf green tights lead to ankle shoes. She carried no weapon, and Link was almost disturbed to see that her eyes were colourless-as if she was blind. Despite this, she watched him so closely, that he couldn't believe that this was true. "Well? Let us go."  
  
"Who are you?" Link blurted.  
  
Saria waved a hand at him. "There's no time! We have to go! Now!"  
  
"Alright, alright." Link grumbled, following his friend. The other girl tagged along, quiet as fog. They came to the entrance to the meadow of the Deku Tree, only to be stopped.  
  
"Let us through, Mido." Link said in a low voice. "We need to see the Deku Tree."  
  
One of the Kokiri Elders, or as eldest as they could get, Mido was a small, lightly built child. This was quite a misleading appearance, however, because he was one of the best fighters of the Kokiri. "Who said you could see the Great Deku tree, 'Mr-no-faerie'?" Despite his seemingly high credentials, Linka and Mido were on the least of best terms.  
  
Saria stepped forward. "He's with me, Mido. The Deku Tree asked to see Link."  
  
Mido's expression softened slightly. He had a major crush on Saria, and practically all of the Kokiri knew it. Saria, of course, as innocent as she was, had no clue. She only knew that if she wanted something, Mido would have a hard time refusing her. She didn't use this information, except in critical times.like this one. "Fine.you can pass." He stepped aside, and let the three Kokiri pass. He took no notice of the mysterious new girl, but glared at Link. "I can't see why the Great Deku Tree would want to see you, 'Mr-no-faerie'. You are hardly even worth his time, if a girl has to stick up for you. I guess a wimp is still a wimp.even with your training." He then stalked away, his faerie trailing behind him.  
  
Link gritted his teeth, grip tightening on his spear. A wimp. Everyday he put up with Mido's crap, letting him insult him, tease him, and beat him around. One of these days, Link would snap and just fly off the handle.then Mido would see who was the wimp.  
  
The strange girl tugged on his arm. "Come, we must hurry." Link nodded, following the girl. They soon came to the meadow of the Deku Tree, where the guardian was waiting for their arrival.  
  
"Well done." The Deku Tree said in his deep voice. "Saria.please leave us."  
  
"But Deku Tree." Saria protested, confusion in her eyes. "Why?"  
  
He shook his head. "This is no longer of thy concern.please, go. I thank thee for thy help." Saria blinked away tears of disappointment, but left. Link shot her a reassuring look as she passed him. "Link. the boy without a faerie.I have a task for thee to do."  
  
"A task, Deku Tree?" Link asked. "What can I possibly do?"  
  
The Deku Tree shifted his branches. "Long ago, there was a prophet. She had the ability to accurately predict the future. Upon waking on a gentle morn, she was set upon by as most strange vision. Link, dost thou know of the world.outside of these woods?"  
  
Link shrugged. "Some things. There is a castle where the king of the land lives."  
  
"Yes, Link. The prophet saw that there was a great fire at the castle town. A woman managed to escape from an evil attack made by a dark man. She only had her son with her, and a most grave wound beset her. The woman escaped to the Lost Woods, where she was granted safety for the remainder of her life span."  
  
"I thought that outsiders couldn't live in this forest?" Link said, puzzled.  
  
"No-they cannot. They woman was half-dead when she arrived. She died soon after arrival, leaving her newborn son in our care." The Deku Tree shifted. "Link.thou art that boy. You are not of the Kokiri. If you stay any longer in these woods, you will fall to the curse of the Staflos."  
  
Link gasped, stepping backwards. "What do you mean? That's not possible!"  
  
"It is true. Thou art not of the Kokiri.thou art a Hylian.one of the outsiders."  
  
Link leaned on his staff heavily. Not one of the Kokiri? That was insane! Sure, he was a little taller, but that didn't mean he was a-Hylian! But if it was true.then he had to leave.and soon. Link glanced up at the Deku Tree. "What must I do?"  
  
The guardian of the Kokiri nodded his approval at Link's decision. "Earlier this day, a dark man did ride into this sacred forest. He stole the Kokiri Emerald from our grasp." Link gasped again, in spite of his self. "Thou must go to the Castle of Hyrule. Speak to the King and plead our case to them. Without the emerald.the land.will die.."  
  
Link gaped at him. "You trust this to me? It is too important!"  
  
The Deku Tree shook his head. "No-thou art the only one who can go. I sence that this will become something much more.no creature of the forest can leave for long.you are our only hope.you are the child of the journey.of destiny."  
  
The Hylian hung his head. To leave his home.his friends.his life. This was all too much. "I understand."  
  
"Good. Know this, however, you will not take this journey alone. Navi will accompany you."  
  
The strange girl stepped forward. Link stared at her. "But she is a Kokiri."  
  
"Only half of her is." At Link's look, the Deku tree shook his head. "You will understand in time. Now go.say your good-byes. You must leave before sunset."  
  
Link nodded, turning to go. "I will do my best, Great Deku Tree."  
  
"May Farore guide you."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There ya go! A new chapter in my very own parody!! Yay! Sorry it took so long, my computer and the mouse aren't exactally getting along too well, so this took longer to write on a different computer. *sigh* I can't wait to get to my favourite part of this fic-where Sheik comes in!!! YAY!!! Oh.and all of the other characters.including some OCs of my own creation. They are so cool.  
  
Sheik: Stop bragging. Me: It's my A/N, I can do what I want! Sheik: *rolls eyes* Me: Stop that!  
  
ANY-way.can't wait for a new instalment! See ya around!!  
  
~OracleVortex ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 


	3. Into the Unknown

Chapter Two: Into the Unknown 

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Sheik: OracleVortex STILL doesn't own anything to do with the Legends of Zelda. 

Link: Yeah, and she doesn't get credit for coming up with her own ideas that lead to this parody. 

Sheik: So don't sue. 

Link: Because she has no money. 

OV: '________`;;;; I can't even buy a Pepsi. ~Boo hoo~ 

Minor sap and heartbreak at the beginning, here. * sigh* It must be done. BUT JUST WAIT TILL AFTER THAT!!!!! YAY!!! 

~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Link reached one hand out to the forest girl. "Saria, wait!" 

"No!" She backed up, tears brimming in her eyes. "It can't be true! You _can't_ leave the forest!" 

"Saria, please..." Link said weakly, "You don't understand. I'm not like you." 

"You don't think I know that?" She cried in despair. Link stopped, staring at her in confusion. "I always knew that you would leave this place, Link, that you were different than the rest of us." Green eyes sought out his blue ones. "Never has a Kokiri had Nayru's eyes...we are completely Farore's children." As if she had revealed something that she shouldn't have, Saria looked away. 

"Listen, Saria...I just have to do something for the Deku Tree." He pulled his friend into a hug, like he always did when she was upset. "Then I'll come back and everything will be all better. Everything will be back to normal." 

Saria pushed him away lightly. "No, Link. It won't." She stared up at him, her green eyes glittering. "You are a Hylian. You are fifteen. If you grow any older while in this forest, you will fall to the curse of the Staflos." She turned away from him. "It is the destiny of the outsiders who come here." She dropped something into the grassy meadow at his feet. "Good bye Link." Without another word, she sprinted away, leaving a broken hearted boy behind. 

_Outsiders..._"Saria..." He bent to retrieve the item she had dropped. It was an ocarina. It was her ocarina. Link ran smooth fingers down its spine, sorrowfully admiring the tan and pale green wood. Because Saria belonged to the peaceful sect of the Kokiri, the diplomatic part, she believed in the value of music and literature. To give up her instrument, especially to him; one of the fighter sect, was an incredibly tender thing. "Saria." 

"It is time to leave. Are you ready?" Navi's voice sounded out from behind him. Link had not even heard her approach him. 

"Not really." Link replied hollowly. "Let's go." 

"We must travel to the Forest Temple." Navi said, her colourless eyes flickering to the passageway to the Sacred Forest Meadow. "A messenger will come to take us to the Castle." 

"A messenger?" Link asked, his curiosity piped, despite the previous events. "A...Hylian?" 

"Not quite." Navi replied. She wouldn't say anything more. 

They arrived at the Sacred Forest Meadow, where two Kokiri were standing guard just outside the open gate. The one on the left was Gaeil, and the one on the right was his twin sister, Faeris. Both were of the fighter sect. Faeris sent Link a small smile as they passed through, though her companion merely glanced the other way. Gaeil, after finding out that Link was leaving the forest, and was not even a Kokiri, had not even given Link the time of day. He was very particular in the company he kept. 

Link and Navi passed through the hedge maze, both equally aware of where they were going. Link had trained there ever since he could remember...as for Navi, well...who knew? 

Mido met them at the entrance to the temple stairs. His usual scowl that marked Link's arrival was ever-present, but it seemed to be deeper than usual. 

_Farore's Wind...what did I do now?_ Link sighed inwardly. This was one thing that he wouldn't miss-Mido and his constant hate for him. 

"You." He growled. "You lying son of a Wolfos." Mido's eyes narrowed. "You aren't even one of us!" Grabbing a fistful of Link's tunic, he jerked the Hylian forward. Sinew showed under the misleading appearance of thin arms. "If it were up to me, I'd-" 

"But it's not." Link hissed at him in return. "So _let me through_." 

Mido snarled at him, letting him go. "It's too bad that you are under the protection of the Great Deku Tree. I would have enjoyed giving you a lesson in Kokiri fighting,_ outsider_." 

Link's eyes flared and his fists clenched. _Outsider..._That would be his tag, his new name...even Saria had said it... "You blasted ass...I've lived here for almost all of my life. I _know _the art of Kokiri fighting." 

Mido leapt forward, staff twirling in front of him. Link parried the first strike, and dodged the second. Having been beat up by the elder for all his life, Link had learned speed and nimbleness rather than brute strength and ferocity. Ducking under a forward stab, Link slid under Mido's reach and scrambled up the stairs, to where Navi was already waiting. 

"Come on, Link!" 

_When did she get the time to get there?_ Link wondered. His train of thought was switched, as Mido grabbed a hold of one ankle and tugged hard. Link lost purchase on the ground and slammed down hard on the stone steps. As one of them dug into his spine, Link gasped for air; he had the wind knocked out of him. 

Mido knelt on the stomach of the taller boy, the tip of his pole digging into Link's neck. "You know the art?" He scoffed. "If so, then I will swallow my staff." 

Link grunted. "Get chewing, Mido." Mido sneered, pushing down on his weapon. 

The Kokiri was suddenly knocked aside as a blue flash pushed him out of the way. Mido tumbled down the staircase, landing in a heap at the bottom. Link sat up quickly, taking in deep breaths. Then he looked at his rescuer. 

It was a young boy, perhaps as old as Link was, with pale blonde hair. He wore a navy, cloth jerkin, and tight navy pants. Matching boots rose to his knees, and at the base of his neck was a strange red tattoo, in the form of an eye. The most disturbing feature about him was not the tattoo, however, it was his eyes. 

His deep, mysterious crimson eyes. 

Link skittered backwards as the young man leaned forward. "Are you alright?" Link didn't answer, and the light tenor voice went on. "I am sorry for interfering, but I didn't like what he was doing..._are _you all right?" 

Link opened and closed his mouth like a fish, but only a thin garble leaked out. _Crimson eyes._ They were just like the ones in his dreams. They stared at him curiously, in a head tilting like an amused bird. "Y-yeah. T-thanks." The boy smiled at him and offered a hand up. Link accepted, and found a warm, callused hand gripping his own. 

"My name is Sheik. I am the messenger that was sent to escort you to the Castle." 

"Link. Uh...representative of the Kokiri...I guess." Link threw Sheik a half smile. 

Mido stood, getting up from the spot of which he was unceremoniously sprawled to the earth. "I will get you for this, outsider." He scowled, his face twisting into a nasty figure. "Just you wait..." Having regained his composure, he stalked away. 

Sheik watched him, one eyebrow quirked and unimpressed. "Who was that, anyway?" 

Link sighed, going past the messenger and into the main area of the temple. "Mido." 

"He isn't very pleasant." 

"He's a giant bigot." Link said bitterly, stopping at the foot of the main temple stairs. "But he's an elder. I can't do anything about it." 

"You could have kicked his ass, back there." Sheik examined Link critically with a stern expression. "You were holding back." 

Link looked at him, surprised. How had he known? "I was not." 

"You were so." Sheik said knowingly. "In the outside world, you must learn to drop that habit. If not, you will be eaten alive. Literally." He indicated for Link to stand next to him, on the Temple platform. "Let us leave." Navi had appeared at his side, a nonchalant expression on her face. Link hesitated, glancing back at his former home. That was all he knewit was all he had. 

Sheik's expression softened. "Please, I know that this must be hard for you, to have your whole world flipped around..." His eyes darkened at this remark. "But I assure you...you will be perfectly welcome and safe at the Castle." He pulled out a harp from a previously unseen case at his back. "Trust me." 

Link took one more look at the forest, imprinting it in his memory. He knew that somewhere Mido was waiting for his return, and Saria was crying her heart out. He would miss the latter, of course, but he was eager to leave the first in the dust. Link stepped beside Navi and Sheik. "Let's go." 

~*~*~*~ 

"Welcome, Link of the Kokiri. We receive you with open arms, and hope that you enjoy your stay here. Pray tell, what is the reason for your most abrupt request for an audience with us?" 

Link nervously knelt before the royal family of Castle Town, and the Hylian leaders of Hyrule. Immediately after his arrival, he had been swept away from Sheik to be groomed and cleaned up before meeting the King. Navi, as embarrassing as it was, stayed at his side the whole time. It seemed that the Kokiri had no shame or sense of modesty. An hour later, he had been literally pushed into a grand hall, where the King, Queen and Princess were ready to hear him out. 

"Your majesties, a serious incident has occurred in the Forests of Farore." Link's mind scrambled for a dignified vocabulary. Why hadn't the Deku Tree sent a diplomat instead? "And, uh..." 

Navi, as if sensing his troubles, elaborated for him. "Your Highness, whilst overseeing the birth of a newborn Kokiri, a dark man rode into the inner sanctum of the Deku Tree and set upon one of the three jewels of the Goddesses." 

The King gasped. "No, please say it isn't so! The life-giver has been stolen away from you?" 

Navi nodded. "Yes, your Highness. We would have pursued the man, but we are the Kokiri. We cannot stray from the forest of our energy. The Deku Tree has asked us to plead our case to you, in hopes that you may recover the stone. The thief called himself Ganon. He said he would take the other two for his own." 

The king pursed his lips in thought. "Ganon." He tapped his fingers on the side of his throne. "The leader of the Gerudos." His gaze was suddenly direct as he looked at Navi and Link. "Are you sure of this? The Gerudo are skilled fighters. We cannot take the chance to wage a war on them without proper reassurance." 

Navi nodded. "He clearly said that his name was Ganon." She paused. "Your Highness, there is one more thing." 

"What is it?" 

Navi indicated Link. "This, the Deku Tree has determined, is the Child of Destiny." 

The King's eyes lit up as he glanced sidewards at the Queen. "Are you absolutely sure?" 

"He is not of the Kokiri. He is a Hylian that grew up with them." 

Link shifted uncomfortably, staring down at the royal blue carpet that he was standing on. What was the big deal? So what if he was not really a Kokiri...did they all have to rub it in? He glanced up at the three royal persons. The King and Queen were looking at him in wonder, but the princess...she was staring at him with something else in her eyes. 

She had long pale blonde hair, pulled back under a silk kerchief, and bright sky blue eyes. She wore a simple silk gown, quite plain by royal standards. She gazed at him in curiosity, yes, but also like there was a plan forming in her mind. Link didn't like it. 

The King sighed heavily, waving a hand at them. "This will take more than one night to think over. Please, rest a while. We will accommodate you as well as we can." He nodded his head at them, and Link and Navi both bowed. "I will call for you when I have made my decision." 

Link and Navi followed a guard out of the hall, and deeper into the castle. They crossed a courtyard, and went up a flight of stairs into a private house, set apart from the rest of the palace rooms. It over saw a small wading pool, hidden in a forested place. All in all, it was comfy. It reminded Link of home. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

YAY!!! I LOVE SHEIK!!!! HE'S SO COOL!! IF HE WERE REAL, HE'D BE HOT TOO!!!!! YAY FOR THE SHEIKAH!! 

SHEIK: QUIT IT WITH THE CAPS, ALREADY!!!! 

Me: Whupps. Sorry. I just get so excited when I introduce you!! Your personality is different in this one, tho. 

Sheik: Oh well. I think I have three, really. 

Me: Oh? How so? 

Sheik: There is the real persona, the one I use in A/N's, the persona I have in Reset into the Game, and the one that I have in this fic. 

Me: Wow. You really think about this stuff, doncha? 

Sheik: Yeah, well.I have a lot of time when you are aren't writing chapps about me. 

Me: Awwww.... Poor Sheik... {Hugs him} 

Sheik: Oh, don't do that...you'll make me blush...{Looks around} ^_______^ 

Me: Hee-hee-hee! 

;) Heh... I luv this character.... Anyway, working on the next chap, so see you in a little while. This was a short chapter, so I'll get the next one out extra-super-quick for all of ya. 

Luv ya all to pieces, 

OracleVortex 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 


	4. Band of Travellers

Chapter Three: Band of Travellers

~~~~~~~~~~~

{15-year old Sheik and Link are lounging in a tree}

Sheik: Man, we're so young!

Link: (wistfully) I don't remember ever being fifteen…

Sheik: {Holds open arms} Aww, c'mere…

Reader: {clears throat} A-hem

Link: Oh! {Straightens} Hi!

Sheik: Sheik and Link…

Link: The 17-yr old versions…

Sheik: Were bored… 

Link: So they went back to their own fic and left us to do this on our own.

Sheik: Yeah…OracleVortex doesn't own us.

Link: So read on!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Link blew through the mouthpiece of the ocarina, experimenting with the sounds that came out when he pressed various keys. It has been two weeks since he arrived at Hyrule Castle, but he did little but wait for the King to announce him, and wander among the gardens. It was a cozy place to stay, yes, but it was nothing compared to the Kokiri Forest. Nothing at all. Navi appeared every so often, probably to see if he was all right, but then vanished again for an extended period of time. Even amidst the leafy foliage, Link felt alone. 

Link shivered, suddenly exposed in the small grove. Everything was just so strange…it had changed so fast. He wasn't too sure who he was or where he belonged anymore. 

A hand rested lightly on hid shoulder. Feeling the familiarity in the touch, Link one of his own hands over top. "Navi…" He started. 

"No." Link turned to see Sheik, not Navi. The boy was dressed the same as he had last seen him, dressed all in blue. The scarlet eye at his throat stared out at him, and Link suddenly had the urge to touch it and see if it was as smooth as Sheik's skin. 

"Um, sorry." Link blushed, looking down at his shoes. As smooth as Sheik's skin? Where did that come from? "I-uh, thought that…"

The other youth shook his head. "It's all right. How have you been?" 

"Fine…I guess." Link said hesitantly. "You?"

Sheik shrugged, gaze on Link. He seemed about to comment on his mood, but decided against it. "About the same. The King wishes to see you." He stated, indicating the way to the throne room. 

~*~*~*~

The King sat atop his throne, gravely examining Link from above meshed fingers. "Child of Destiny, will you do something for me?" He tilted his head. "For all of Hyrule?"   
 

Link nodded, half bowing. "You need but ask, your Highness."

"Understand that you will be away from the forest for a long while." The King said pointedly. 

Link swallowed hard. "That is already inevitable." 

The King's eyes were suddenly filled with pity. "I am sorry, son," he said kindly, "But it is your destiny."

"I know."

"Very well. Your quest is as this; go to Darunia in the city of the Gorons. Tell them of our situation and bid him to give you the Goron's Ruby. Also retrieve the Zora's Sapphire from the King of the Zoras. Bring them back to me for safekeeping." The King frowned. "We may yet be able to head this off. Do you understand?"

"Yes, your Highness." 

"Good. Take Sheik with you." He indicated the surprised boy standing off to one side. "He will keep me informed on what happens."

Link bowed. "Thank-you your Highness."

"Believe me, Link, thank-_you_."

~*~*~*~

They left that day, and to neither's surprise, Navi accompanied them as well. They had decided to leave on foot, leaving the royal steeds at the palace in order not to attract attention to their campaign. 

"Where will we go first?" Link asked. 

Sheik pointed to a mountain, clearly visible in the east. "Goron city is closest. We will go there first." He wore a cloak that most likely doubled as a blanket, and held a leather case. Other than that, he had nothing. Not even a weapon. 

Link looked at him in envy, shouldering a pack of food, and shifting his spear under one arm. How wonderful it must be to not _need _a weapon, let alone carry one wherever you went. 

Navi, colourless eyes shifting, bowed to a woman outside the town Gate. Link hadn't even seen her. Her orange-blonde hair was pulled up into a tight bun, and scarlet eyes watched Link carefully. A navy cloak was thrown back from her shoulders, revealing a sleeveless silver turtleneck, bearing the same red eye that Sheik wore. She also wore slim fitting navy pants and black boots to the knee. 

"Hello." She said pleasantly. 

"Hi." Link replied. Sheik was approaching her, and hugged her. A sharp pang sounded in Link, but it vanished as quickly as it had appeared. 

"Link," Sheik said, "This is my sister, Shaya." Standing side-by-side, Link could see the resemblance; but something about Shaya was a bit off. He couldn't pin it down. 

"Pleased to meet you." Link said, shaking her hand.

'Likewise." Shaya said with a smile. 

"She will be coming with us." Sheik said proudly. 

"I see." Link fiddled with his spear. Why was she sounding every one of his senses? "Let us leave then." He started walking in the direction of the mountain. Had he looked back, he would have seen the crestfallen look that crossed Sheik's face. Shaya patted his arm reassuringly. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yeah, so now the main goal of this story is revealed. Yay! 

Sheik: You're quite happy with this, aren't you?

Me: Yep. Especially since you're fifteen…

Sheik: o.O?

Me: And _I'm_ fifteen… {Winks}

Sheik: O.O! 

{Link appears}

Link: A-hem…

Me: ^__^;;;;; Sorry…I forgot…you're already spoken for in this story…. whupps. {Walks away muttering} Must write a fic where _I _get Sheik…

Lol. Sorry that this took longer to get out than I had implied, but my brain was concentration on other Zelda projects. Besides, I had this huge brainstorm, and have a lot of material for the following chapters after this one. I'll _try_ to be quick with writing them. 

See ya around!

OV

~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	5. The Village People

Chapter Four: The Village People

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Link: We would like to interrupt your reading for a short announcement.

Sheik: OracleVortex, as usual, owns nothing. 

Link: We now return you to your regularly scheduled fanfiction. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was only one day of walking from the castle to Kakariko Village, at the foot of the mountain. Hylians, Navi had told Link in private, lived there, yes, but it was mostly Sheikah. Kakariko was the hometown of the Shadow people, and was therefore the centre of their training. 

Sheik and Shaya wove through the city with skill leading Link and Navi down winding streets. Link learned that this was because they, too, were Sheikah – as could be identified by the signature red eyes and the red eyes symbol. The symbol was a reference to the Eye of Truth; which took place of a patron Goddess. It was a deity of no gender, being only an all seeing eye that knew truth from lies and shadows from light. It was also known for spiritual balance and balance of the universe. Without the Eye to keep balance, there could be an excessiveness of god or evil, causing the scales to tip, and utter chaos to prevail. 

The villagers greeted them with warm smiles and open waves. Many arenas were set up among the houses, where people from as young as five to as old as they could come sparred unarmed. Other arena, for skilled fighters with experience, even showed a display of knife sparring. Link, who had seen many displays of open combat, was surprised by their intensity and skill. Even those who were younger than him were able to turn perfect back flips without breaking stride. It had taken Link forever to perfect that single move. 

Sheik opened the door to a two-story house. "Let's stop here for a moment." The four stepped in. It was a busy main floor, bustling with red-eyed inhabitancies, getting bandaged up or slathered with healing potions. 

"Anju?" Shaya called into the din. An elderly woman to their right pointed upstairs. 

"She's with the sick." She told them helpfully. 

"Thank-you." Sheik said. They climbed the staircase, careful of the youngsters playing on the banisters. Sheik opened the door at the top. This room, though as big as the downstairs, was nowhere as noisy. It was filled with beds, some of which held sleeping or eating Sheikah. A single red-haired woman attended them.

"Anju." Shaya called out, waving. The woman turned, smiled and set down a platter of soup. She joined the four youths in the hall. 

"Sheik, Shaya, how nice it is to see you again!" Long red hair was tied messily back, hanging into her eyes. She wore a plain emerald bodysuit; black boots and belt her only accessories. Red earrings dangled from both lobes, shaped like the Eye. "Who are your friends?"

Shaya indicated to each person in turn. "This is Link and Navi. Link, Navi, this is Anju, one of the few Hylians who live in the Village." 

Link shook hands with Anju, feeling a callused palm. Upon closer inspection, he saw that her eyes were indeed blue. "Hello." 

"Why have you come to the village?" Anju asked, leading them back downstairs. "Usually you come only a few times a season anymore, and it's never with friends." 

Sheik shrugged. "We're going up to Goron City. We decided to drop in and say hi."

"Well, I'm much obliged," She grinned. "Will you stay for the night?"

"Of course." Shaya said. "How couldn't we?"

~*~*~*~  
  


The next day, they were supposed to leave at dawn, but Sheik seemed eager to help expand Link's knowledge of the outside world. Before Shaya and Navi were even awake, Sheik had thrown a tunic in Link's face and cheerfully told him to get up and get dressed. He, of course, was already ready to go. 

"Where are we going?" Link yawned stumbling out of bed. He had dreamed of Sheik's eyes again. Why? Why wouldn't they go away? Was it a message or something?

"You'll see." Sheik said, shoving a roll into Link's mouth. "Hurry up, I let you sleep in."

"Swee ehn?" He tried to say. Pulling the soft bread out of his mouth, he tried again. "Sleep in?"

"Yes!" Sheik pointed at the horizon, where the sun was just rising. "We could have been here hours ago!" He took Link around the town, taking him into shops and houses to introduce him to all the people that had a tidbit of information. By noon Link had heard many tales not only about the Sheikah and The Eye, but about Zoras and Gorons, and even the race of thieves, the Gerudo.  After munching on lunch while watching two men spar with knives, Sheik led him to an empty stretch of land, a target at one end of the area. "Do you know how to use a slingshot?" 

"Of course." Link said, pulling out his own. Although he preferred his spear, he did have a sling. "Why?"

Sheik plucked it out of Link's hands. "I'm going to teach you how to use a bow and arrow. It's basically the same thing."

"Bows and arrows?" Link asked. "I thought that the Sheikah didn't use them…"

Sheik opened a box. After sizing up Link for a long moment, he selected a bow and strung it for him. He handed it to Link, along with a single, violet fletched arrow. "We usually just use arrows for sending messages silently. Our fletching," he showed Link the twine that it was tied with, "is attached in a certain way so that it flies through the air without whistling, like most arrows do." Sheik winked at Link. "But I think you can find other uses for bow and arrows."

Link looked down at the weapon in his hands. "What do I do with it?"

"Here, let me help you." Sheik positioned his hands and arms on the bow and arrow, folding fingers firmly around the end of the arrow. Walking around Link, he turned his shoulders, and forcefully moved his feet into a proper standing position. "Relax, Link. It's almost exactly like shooting a slingshot."

"Farore's wind it is!" Link burst out, suppressing the urge to stammer. What was this spell that Sheik was weaving over him? He could hear his own blood pounding in his veins, jumping every time that Sheik touched him. What was this? It was almost as if he—no. He was a guy. Sheik was a guy. It wasn't going to happen. With a decided mood, Link pulled back on the string letting the arrow go. It thunked into the target, close to the painted red centre. 

"Nice shot!" Sheik said in surprise. He handed Link another arrow. "Let's see you do that again." Keeping the same thought in him mind, Link readied himself and let another fly loose. This one hit even closer to the centre of the target.  "Good!" Sheik laughed, giving Link the quiver. "Not so hard, is it?" 

Link's next shot missed, because the mantra in his head was disrupted by the addictive sound of Sheik's laughter. He wanted to hear it again, but couldn't bring himself to make the boy laugh. It wasn't going to happen. He drew another arrow. It hit the centre of the target. No way was it going to happen. The next one hit centre as well. But he wanted it to. The third missed. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A new chap. Two at the same time. Aren't you lucky readers? ;) 

So, Link is only a good archer when he isn't thinking about Sheik. Hmm. Does he sound like he's in denial? Well, think about it; he's probably never even heard of a guy liking another guy That Way. Besides, he's fifteen…he's got the whole hormones thing to worry about. ;) _Much_ fun to write with. 

Next chapter will hopefully be completed soon. 

Luv ya lots, 

OracleVortex

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	6. Small Comforts

Chapter Five: Small Comforts

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sheik: OracleVortex owns nothing.

Sorry that I took forever to get this out. I was finishing my other OoT story : ' (  and starting my Majora's Mask fic. {It's called _It Froze Again_ if you wanna check it out.) And I took the time to look as this story and wonder 'where the hell am I going with this?' Besides. I was taking first term finals. Many essays to write. Blah for essays. ___

Hope you enjoy! J

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Death Mountain, though called a mountain, was really a volcano. And closer to the peak that you drew, the hotter it got. Halfway to the Goron City, Link was sweating like mad. He pulled off his hat and stuck it into his pack. His green tunic soon followed it, leaving him only in a light white shirt and loose white pants. 

Link absently smiled, eyes never leaving the Sheikah as he boosted himself up a rock ledge. Sheik glanced down at him, offering a hand up. Pale blonde strands of hair drifted across passionate crimson eyes, and a thin, slender hand brushed them away. Link remembered to breathe as the lithe young man helped him up onto the rock edge. Strengthened arms flexed as Sheik supported himself on one hand, letting go of Link and reaching for Navi. _Goddess, he's beautiful…_

Link blushed, turning away from Sheik and staring out over the large expanse of land below. The village could be seen clearly, a small cluster of houses at the foot of the mountain. In the distance there was the castle, and even further Link could see the dark green tips of trees that indicated the Forest. Unwillingly, a sigh escaped pursed lips. 

"You miss the forest."

Link started at Navi's voice, watching as she came to stand beside him. The girl looked out as he did, then turned her gaze to him. 

"Perhaps I am more lucky than you, for I carry the forest within me." She gave him a rare half-smile. "You carry it as well, but you fail to remember."

Link looked at her quizzically. "What are you talking about?

Navi sat down on the edge of the cliff. "You were given a gift upon your leaving, and yet you have not used it, Link."

Link stared at the girl. "How did you know about that?" 

Navi shrugged. "Saria and I are friends. She wonders how you've been and why you haven't talked to her."

"Talked to her?" Link said. "I'm halfway across the land!"

Navi turned to look up at him. "You need but play her song, and she will speak to you."

"Her song?" Link dug into one pocket to produce the ocarina. "The one she was given by the Elders?" Navi nodded. Link stared at the ocarina thoughtfully, mind recalling all the times that he had seen Saria play the short tune. It was a lively one, upbeat and light, reflecting Saria's very nature and soul. Images of memories came to him. He could see the fingerings in his mind… 

Bringing the instrument to his lips, he played the melody, the song echoing out and down the mountainside. The sudden soft breeze carried the notes away from him, casting them to the sky. Sheik and Shaya paused in their conversation, watching as Link and Navi stood still in the sunlight. Navi began to hum, and then spoke, her voice softer and higher, eyes half lidded as she talked. 

"Link? Link, is that you?"

Link stared at Navi, mouth falling open. "Saria? Saria, is that you?" Navi's eyes opened, their irises suddenly a bright emerald green. She nodded. 

"Link! I was starting to think that you weren't ever going to talk to me! How have you been?" Navi glanced around. "Where are you?" 

Link was struck speechless for a moment, staring at Navi. "Saria…but how is this possible? I thought that – that you could only talk through faeries, and…."

Navi laughed, though it was Saria who was doing it. "You mean she hasn't told you yet? Navi _is _a faerie, Link."

"But…she looks…you…"

"Looks can be deceiving, Link. It is complicated."

Link glanced over his shoulder, seeing that Sheik and Shaya were laying out the things needed for a meal. "We have the time."

Navi nodded, expression unreadable. "Yes. Link, you have never been favoured with the companionship of a faerie, therefore you have been locked out from their circle." 

Link frowned, sitting beside Navi. A pang in his chest sang out, now only one among many. "So?"

"Her real form is of a faerie. When Ganon came unto the forest and stole Farore's emerald, he disrupted the completed birth of a Kokiri." She indicated herself. "This is the body of that Kokiri. Navi was forced to enter her and keep her alive. She was born without a soul." 

Link gasped. "That's terrible, but…how is it possible? I thought that when a faerie heals, they…vanish away…"

"She became her soul for living, Link, not her healer. The reason that a Kokiri cannot live outside of the forest is because they naturally depend on the life and vibrant innocence of the forest's aura. Because they are around and borne of the purity of Farore's gift of life, they keep the state of a child for all of their immortal lives; they stay young because of the forest. Other children, borne much of the same way, but yet not of the Kokiri emerald, can live in the forest, developing and being purified, until their heritage of their race comes in and causes them to change. Kokiri can tolerate complete purity. Other races crave unbalance and disorder…they become Staflos."

"Oh…and faeries?"

"Faeries are the purest form of life in the world. They can heal and revitalize lost life. The Great faeries of the land are the greatest manifestation of this power. They can heal again and again, giving away life without dying. Similarly, the Sheikah can restore life, having learned much of their craft from the Great Faerie of the Goron's mountain."

 "I see, but you didn't answer my question." 

"How is it that Navi survives? Well, let's see…she resides inside a mortal body; therefore, her mortal self-interests keep her from relieving herself of all her energy. As for the body its self, she keeps it alive, for she is a source, or connection to the forest…the one energy the body needs to live." 

"Wow. That _was_ complicated."

"Like I said it was." Navi waved a hand. "But enough of that, Link. What have you been up to?"

Link blinked, telling her of all the events that had happened since their separation. Except for the fact that he wasn't talking to her in person, he felt a bit relaxed, chatting with the one person that had been – and probably will be – his best friend for the rest of his life. Introducing Saria to Sheik and Shaya, Link was sad to see the time when Saria had to go. 

"I'm sorry, Link, really I am, but Navi is growing tired and I can see that it is getting dark where you are." Navi glanced up at the sky. "I'll talk to you again, be sure of it. Bye, Link." 

"Bye." Link repeated, watching as Navi seemed to fall out of a trance. She blinked, her eyes returning to normal. For a moment she watched Link, impassive. She then stood, getting up and drifting away. For a long while, Link just stared off into nowhere, mind wandering. It wouldn't be so bad, now that he didn't feel completely cut off from the forest. It was reassuring, really. 

It took Link a moment before he even noticed that Sheik was sitting down across from him. The Sheikah was casually breaking a long stick, feeding it slowly to the fire. With every snap a piece was sent into the flames, causing it to flicker and rise. 

Link's skin tingled as crimson eyes ran over him, searching for something. He held the powerful gaze with equal interest, unable and unwilling to drop it and let it go. The young Sheikah was suddenly at the Hylian's side, peering expressionless into his face.

Link stumbled backwards, heart thudding against his ribs. "W-hat?"

Sheik turned away, staring into the distance. "Are you feeling better?"

"Better?"

Sheik rubbed his neck. "You were out of sorts. You carried a great burden." He looked at him sidelong. "Your friend has lightened your spirit considerably."             

Link examined his hands with a fake interest. "You mean Saria. She knew that I was scrambling for holds on reality…that I felt distant. I don't anymore, you're right, but…" Link sighed. "It's all happening so fast."

Sheik didn't speak for a moment. "The flow of time is always cruel, Link. Its speed seems different for each person, but no one can change it." Sheik titled his head to the sky, as if finding his words in the stars above. "When I find that I cannot see through time's blur, I take hold of those near me. Often they are able to slow time's current and turn it to a stream." Standing, he moved past Link, soundless except for his fingers trailing through Link's hair. 

Link shivered, watching as Sheik drifted to his sister's side. The two melted into the dark, undistinguishable from the shade. Link heard a low murmuring, but otherwise understood nothing. Navi stirred from where she slept nearby, and turned over. Link smiled, absently running a hand through his hair.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh yes…Sheik is a _sexy_ thang! ::drools::

Sheik: Um…you do remember that I'm a fictional character…right?

Me: Yeah, so? 

Sheik: Um…never mind…

Me: Hey! We (Sheik-obsessers all over) don't care that you aren't walking and talking! That way we can each claim you for our own!

Sheik: Eep! 

Link: Ha. You should see the Link-fangirls. They try to _clone_ me! 

Me/Sheik: o.O Whoa. Weird. 

Link: You're telling me…

Clones…hmm…Sheik-clones…hmm…sounds like a fic idea… ::goes and scribbles down ideas::

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	7. Blood

Chapter Six: Blood ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Link: OracleVortex wishes that she owned even just a little part of the Legends of Zelda, but she doesn't. Sheik: That'd be cool though. You really get beat up in this chapter, don't ya? Link: Shh! The reader is.reading! Sheik: Whupps.  
  
Gore! There is mild gore in this one! Yaoi warning, again! There's more of that, as well! Greatness! Lotsa greatness! Whee!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"What is this?" The giant Goron boomed, hands on wide hips. "Children? The King of Hyrule thinks so less of me that he sends children?"  
  
In unison, Shaya and Sheik bowed, a fist over their hearts in respect. "His Highness means no offence, Darunia." Sheik said smoothly. "Begging your pardon, but in Hyrule, we are considered to be of age."  
  
Darunia guffawed, looking at the gathered four youths in disbelief. "You? You are but tiny sprites." He peered at them. "Surely you must be joking."  
  
Shaya shook her head. "I assure you, we are not."  
  
Darunia grunted, settling into his throne with a heavy thump. "Such small messengers of the King, in such dangerous times. If you were to be attacked, you would not survive." He waved a hand at them. "Tell me; what is your business here?"  
  
As Shaya prepared to speak, Navi stepped forward, blank eyes calculated. "The King sends his greetings, and wishes for strength and prosperity to never leave your person and people." She paused for effect, and Darunia nodded her on. "His Royal Highness bids that we deliver the Spiritual Stone of Fire unto him so that it may not suffer the same fate as the Kokiri Emerald."  
  
Darunia frowned. "What has happened with the forest folk?"  
  
Link gave a barely restrained-tortured answer. "Ganon, King of the Gerudos, stole the jewel and said he would claim the other two. In doing this, he said he would dominate the land."  
  
"Ah.I see." Darunia murmured. "Terrible things." He straightened in his chair. "But how can I give you the Goron's Ruby?" He eyed Link and Navi, who were both dressed in the manner of the Kokiri. "The forest folk have lost one relic. What's to say that they won't do it again?"  
  
Link bristled at this comment, and Shaya shot a sharp warning glance at him. "I assure you, the Kokiri were taken by surprise. They had no warning."  
  
"They shouldn't have needed it."  
  
Sheik ignored this and continued where his sister left off. "No one knows the true meaning of our presence. We have been as discreet as possible, and shall do so until our quest is over." He flexed his hands. "Do not worry that we cannot fight.each of us is capable in combat in our own ways."  
  
Darunia grunted. "To each their own? Well, if you think that you are so.skilled." He reached into a clay pot near him. "Go to the Cave of the Dodongo. Bring me the heart of a full grown Dodongo and then I shall consider releasing the Ruby to you." He tossed a small pouch to Sheik, who caught it in one hand. "Take this. Without it, you cannot possibly defeat anything on my lands."  
  
Sheik opened the pouch. Inside were two glittering bracelets, each inscribed with the symbol of the Gorons. "Thank you Darunia."  
  
"I would give you four, but only two were made. Do not lose them."  
  
They left the room with deep bows, filing out into the corridor. Navi and Shaya didn't take a bracelet, saying they had other means of defending themselves. Link was sure that Sheik's sister had some sort of weapon, but Navi had only shown him her ability to drift like smoke. Sheik slipped his on with no more than a glimpse, but Link stopped to examine it. It was an inch and a half wide, and a centimetre thick of solid gold. The symbol of the Gorons was a large ruby, untainted and pure. The craftsmanship was exquisite and the hammered embroidery was beyond compare. Link put it on, satisfied that it did no more than shift around his wrist.  
  
"Come on Link." Shaya called, waving at him to follow. Link caught up easily, and the four of them delved deeper into the mountain. There was an open road to the cave of the Dodongos, but it was much quicker to take the route through the city tunnels. Strangely enough, the closer that they came to the cavern, the cooler it became. Link could heard water dripping in the distance, and the tunnel became increasingly more damp. He shivered.  
  
"Here." Navi said lowly, peering carefully into a large space. "The nesting place of the Dodongos is in here."  
  
"How can you be so sure?" Link asked quietly. Navi didn't answer, and instead crept in.  
  
"Be careful." Shaya warned lowly. "They are able to sense emotions; pain and anger in particular. When we start attacking, then they will all go haywire."  
  
"Perhaps we should proceed to a less crowded chamber?" Navi suggested, edging around the wall of the cave. The rest followed, ducking into a smaller cave. This continued until they came to a space occupied by only two dodongos. The rest had at least four or more.  
  
"What are we going to do, exactly?" Link asked, trying to contain rising wells of panic.  
  
Sheik shrugged. "Just stay out of the way of its blood." They went in cautiously, circling around to the rear of the larger one. "Go!" He hissed.  
  
Shaya pulled a twin set of daggers into view, cutting at his haunches. The dodongo shrieked, and twirled. Navi faded off to one side, and Sheik jumped over the tail. Link scrambled backwards, thrusting into the beat's side with his spear. It stuck and Link pulled, sending the weapon flying across the room. A wound opened and sprayed a thin line of blood.  
  
Link gasped aloud as drops of blood landed on his bare arms. The places where it touched blazed and sizzled, the flesh burning away. He stumbled away from the screeching Dodongo, tripping over its thrashing tail. He knocked into another of the great creatures, and was pushed back the way he had come. Reaching out to brace himself, his palm came down hard into the other's wound. A pain unlike anything that Link had ever experienced in his life then came upon him. He pulled his hand back, not looking at it for fear of what he would see. "Sheik!" He cried, knees giving out on him.  
  
"Link-stay where you are!" Link could see the young Sheikah bounding across the chamber, his sister at his side. Shaya dodged the giant, injured dodongo, and slashed at its eyes with her dagger. It roared, sending out a wave of fire that she barely ducked under.  
  
Sheik pulled Link to his feet, ignoring the drops of blood flying around. He pulled Link into a notch in the wall, half supporting him with his own weight. Shaya crowded in with Navi, who was faintly glowing blue. With a delicate touch Sheik turned over Link's hand by the wrist.  
  
"Ah!" Link yelled. The two dodongos outside the crevasse stopped, listening for the cry again.  
  
Sheik paused. "You have to be absolutely silent. Can you do that for me?"  
  
Link whimpered as Sheik moved again, shaking his head. "Farore's Wind." He forced out.  
  
"I think I can take the larger one out." Shaya muttered, shifting into a more comfortable position. "But I'll need to take him by surprise."  
  
"I can distract him." Navi said softly.  
  
"Do it." Sheik said. Navi skipped out of the nook, dancing out in front of the two creatures. Shaya ghosted after her, going around their back. Sheik and Link were left in the narrow space together. "Link.this is really going to hurt." He suddenly gripped Link's injury tightly, a pink glow rising.  
  
Link screamed, pushing back against the damp stone-wall. In the chamber outside the dodongos turned to the noise. Navi whistled and called to them, but they were already distracted. Shaya took this time to jump on the back of the larger one, dagger slicing into its skin. "Sheik! Keep him quiet!" The smaller creature hesitated, caught between the two screeches of pain.  
  
Link thrashed unintentionally, letting out another yell. Sheik hastily tried to subside Link's howls, all too aware that the other dodongo was creeping over to the entrance of the nook. "Link! It's almost.I'm.stop, I can't-" Sheik glanced behind him in alarm, then to the wriggling Hylian. "Link, dammit!" Having run out of options, he leaned forward abruptly and silenced the youth. He closed his mouth over Link's, swallowing stinging shouts in a kiss. Gaze riveted on Sheik's, a single tear fell from blue eyes as the pink glow in the cleft intensified and flickered, and then finally dulled. Sheik pulled away slowly and Link collapsed into his arms.  
  
"Farore's Wind." He said faintly.  
  
"Sheik!"  
  
"By the Eye!" Sheik was on his feet, heading out the crevasse. He paused. "Link."  
  
"I'm.coming." He followed Sheik out, pressing several small orbs into his hand. "Here."  
  
"What's this?"  
  
Link shrugged. "They were in there."  
  
"Sheik!" Shaya cried again. Bursting out into the open, Sheik shoved several of the small balls into the smaller dodongo's mouth, and dashed past him. Link stumbled as he passed, startled by the explosion coming from somewhere inside the dodongo. The oversized lizard foundered, falling to the ground dead without another sound. A thin trail of blood trickled to the floor, making a deep ridge in the stone.  
  
Navi danced in front of the other one, splatters of blood sizzling on her blue aura. Shaya had cut a thick line down the creature's side, and now jumped out of the way of the tail. As the beast open his mouth to howl at them with fire, Sheik and Link tossed in their small bombs, jumping out of the way as the dodongo swallowed. As it had been with the other, something rumbled within and exploded. The creature whined and fell to one side, large amber eyes drifting mercifully shut.  
  
Navi stepped forward, one of Shaya's daggers in hand. She slit the dodongo's belly, not even flinching when a pool of blood flowed to her. Navi's aura repelled it, and she reached in with one arm, soon sending the other after it. With a twist and a squelching wrench, she retreated, the beast's heart in hand. Link had to turn away as she dumped it in the pouch that once contained the Goron bracelets. He mentally calmed a jumping stomach, retrieving his discarded spear.  
  
"Let's get out of here." Shaya said quietly, taking back her dagger that was mysteriously clean after Navi's care. Link made to follow, not glancing back at the messy scene. He was suddenly sad that such a beast had to be killed.  
  
"All right there?" Sheik murmured.  
  
"Fine." Link said appreciatively. "Thank you."  
  
"It was nothing."  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Darunia caught Sheik and Link up in a giant hug, and regarded Shaya and Navi with a respectful bow. "Never did I dream that you would come back with the heart of the Great Dodongo leader! There is no doubt that I shall give you the Goron's Ruby; the jewel that strengthens the body!" He clapped Link on the back, sending him spilling to the ground. "In fact, I would be proud and honoured to call you all my kinsmen!" Darunia laughed. "Brothers and Sisters, you have impressed me indeed!"  
  
Sheik accepted the Ruby, putting it into a pocket so quickly that it was simply gone. He bowed to Darunia, as did Link, Shaya and Navi. "Thank you," Sheik said, "For this, the land may have been saved."  
  
Darunia grinned widely. "I welcome you back to my lands, again, Brother. Tell the King that I send my greetings and so forth." He waved a hand. "You'll know what to say."  
  
"As you wish, Darunia."  
  
The Goron leader crossed his arms suddenly. "Before you leave this place, I suggest that you visit the Great Faerie at the top of this mountain." He tilted his head to one side. "She may be able to offer you things that normally others cannot."  
  
Shaya nodded. "Thank you again."  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Link leaned his cheek against the cool, reassuring surface of the wall. I despise this mountain.why does it have to be so big? Since there were no tunnels to the top of the mountain, the four heroes had to, once more, brave the elements and climb the rocky paths to the top. Couldn't the Great Faerie live a little closer to the ground? Currently, Link was resting momentarily as Navi discerned the correct path up the rock wall. The rest was a blessing to Link, who was not used to such physical exertion for extended periods of time. He flexed his hand absently, recalling the tiring events of the day. His limb was as good as new, though he could still feel the aftershock of such an injury. Sheik had reassured him that it would eventually fade away. Sheik. Goddesses.  
  
"I believe that we can follow the ledge over there." Navi indicated a narrow path five feet away from them. "That should lead to Her shrine."  
  
"All right." Sheik had been perching on a small shard of out-thrust rock. Now he moved quickly, instinctively finding hidden handholds. Likewise, Shaya was ahead of him, already pulling herself onto the path that Navi had found.  
  
Link clawed about, weakly trying to pretend that it was the same as climbing a tree. The only difference was that you could only climb on one side, and if you fell.there was nothing to break your fall. By Farore's Wind. Link shifted his weight and reached for the next handhold. His foot slipped, and Link let out a yelp as he suddenly dropped.  
  
"Link!" Navi said sharply. Sheik and Shaya looked down.  
  
"Farore's Wind." Link said distantly. His pack, the leather strap quite long and sturdy, had snagged on a jutted slab of rock, leaving Link to dangle. He gripped the wall with a panicked strength, and heaved himself onto the small ledge.  
  
"Are you all right?" Shaya called out.  
  
Link reached where everyone else was on the narrow path, and was pulled up by two pairs of hands. "Yeah." He stood, and Sheik steadied him.  
  
"Are you sure?" He asked, one hand grasping his shoulder and the other pausing at his waist.  
  
Link wordlessly nodded, fingers wrapping around Sheik's wrist. He could feel the pulse hammering, there, faster than it usually would have been. "Yes." He abruptly heard his own heartbeat; it was pounding in his ears, and it was fast as well. "Thanks."  
  
Sheik flashed a quick, small, smile and turned to start up the trail, where Navi and Shaya had already gone. His hand lingered on Link's shoulder, dragging softly down his chest. Link shuddered, a pleasant tingle running down his spine. He followed Sheik.  
  
They found a cave at the end of the path, and inside was a large marble pool. The walls shimmered and glowed, reaching up until you couldn't tell if it kept going or simply ended somewhere. There was a path that led to a small square, inscribed with symbols and pictures.  
  
"'Thou who art injured and ill, kneel here and call to me.Thou who seek my help, stand and do the same.'" Navi read.  
  
They all stood on the square. "Great Faerie." Navi and Sheik murmured. "We seek thee."  
  
The water in the pool rippled and glittered. Out of the liquid, a tall, slim form rose, clothed in a robe of leaves and ivy. Pale pink hair was swept back by a tiara of roses, and wide pink eyes peered at the four in the chamber. "Thou called and I have come.pray tell, fair travelers, what dost ail thee?"  
  
Navi pressed her palms together, eyes lowered before the divinity. "Great Faerie of the Mountain of Lava.we need no healing, but ask for a small assistance in our quest. The ruler of the people below you did say that we might find help from you."  
  
The Great Faerie smiled gently at Navi. "Thou art one of my order.strange that thou art in a body of the Green Lady's creation." She waved a hand gracefully. "But that is of no distress.it was Fate that this is such." She walked across the water to step down in front of them. "In light of thy tasks that have been placed before thee by the Lady of Ages, I grant thee each a gift of thy own." She looked to Navi. "Thou hast already obtained knowledge of thy gift." Navi nodded and the Great Faerie moved on to Shaya. "When thou hast found that the tides are against thee, look to the heavens and summon thy will. Evil shall vanish as thou dost prevail."  
  
Shaya bowed deeply and the Great Faerie continued on to Sheik. "Thou hast returned to my chamber again, Sheik of the Sheikah."  
  
"Yes, my lady."  
  
"Thou hast been a most dedicated student of my art." She touched Sheik's forehead lightly. "There is nothing more that I can teach thee. If thy power is to increase, it will do so under thy own tutelage. It has now come to pass that thou must master thy strength. " She glanced at Link. "If not for thyself, then for others."  
  
"As you say, my lady."  
  
The faerie then turned to Link. "Thy gift cannot be granted to thee at this time, young hero. Thy fate is a difficult one, and can only be further complicated. Thou shall have to make due with the companionship of thy friends. When the time is right, my gift shall come unto thee and thou shall be stronger than ever." She gazed at the young man. "Though it is no falsehood that thou needst no healing, I can see the fissure that doth exists in thy heart. Do not be saddened that thy world is changing. Be glad that thou hast the privilege of a chance to see much in thy short lifetime."  
  
"If you say so, my lady." Link muttered, examining his shoes.  
  
"Events shall happen, things shall change, and thou shall experience much that thou shall wish thy hadn't. Pain, fear, suffering and dismay... Look at these only briefly, and focus upon hope.strength.and love." She glanced at everyone. "This doth apply to all of thee."  
  
There was a hushed chorus, "Yes, my lady."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Apologies for delay. Darn the schoolwork. Darn the difficult people I know. __ Damn the stupid computer erasing everything! RWAR! ::Gnashes at the air:: But summer is here, and I'm going to start updating!  
You: FINALLY!  
Me: ^__^;; Also, I invite everyone to come and visit me at my fictionpress.net account and read poems written by me. Ever since the site split into two, no one seems to visit anymore. :( Come and see me once and a while! I welcome visitors! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 


	8. River Battle

Chapter Seven: River Battle

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Disclaimer: Nothing to be said here. You know I own nothing. 

Why are there no boats in OoT? There are plenty in MM, for all the people over there and all… Do they really expect Link to _swim_ everywhere? That takes forever, even with the gold/silver scale!!

Also, in the previous chapter, the three dot, dot, dot things that I use to make characters drift off in their sentence were unexpectedly turned to one period. So, it wasn't that I put single periods in incorrect places; it's just that two were loped off. I don't know why. *Mutter* Stupid ff.net. I apologise for this, and I hope it doesn't happen again. 

***SPECIAL TREAT!!*** Today is Saturday, and I'm stuck bbsitting yet again. Gackt and Dir en Grey is playing in the background, and I'm typing up a storm. Now, instead of one chapter for this story, I am giving you _four_, that's right, _four_. The funny thing about it is that I wrote them backwards, meaning I started with the tenth and then the ninth, and then the eighth. Well, actually, I had most of the eighth done when I started this fic, but that's beside the point. My point is that you're getting a lot from me today (I updated **When You Need Me** and started a HP RemusxSirius fic, **Drops of Scarlet** as well) so don't complain about what happens at the end of the ninth chapter, because it will all be explained in time. 

Cheers, all!

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                Link smiled lazily, trailing his fingers through the water as the small boat sailed down the river. In a strange switch of situations, the harsh terrain of the mountain was switched for the pleasant scenery of the Zora's Domain River. The sun was bright and warm on Link's skin, and the lapping of the paddle cutting into the water was almost soothing. Sheik sat in the stern of the boat, steering with a paddle as the current carried them along. Shaya and Navi were in the other boat, a couple feet ahead of them; Shaya was steering for them. Navi and Link had no experience in a boat; they both came from the forest, where there were ponds and pools at the most. 

                Link glanced back at the young Sheikah man, taking in the way he moved, the way he smoothly steered the boat. Link caught his eye and quickly turned around, his heart pounding at that moment of connection. Lately he had been definitely looking at Sheik differently. With what happened at the top of Death Mountain, and the way he made his pulse race… Link shivered, and not in an unpleasant way. 

                "Rapids!" Shaya called back to them, and they dipped over the edge of a small drop. Sheik and Link immediately followed, the small boat being tossed around carelessly in the river. 

                "Hold on, Link!" Sheik said, leaning hard on the rudder. The craft dipped sharply to the right. Link nearly tipped into the water, and panicked by throwing himself in the opposite direction. The boat shifted with the churning water and Link was pitched off the other side. "Link!" Sheik cried, horrified as the Hylian disappeared under the water. The blonde head of hair bobbed up once, but it was several meters away. It vanished again, and Sheik couldn't see where it went. 

                Link flailed about wildly, the undertow tugging him to the bottom of the river. A sharp stone cut into his back and tore as he was pulled away. He opened his mouth to cry out, and soon realized the stupidity of it. He now had no air in his lungs, and he was unable to pull himself to the surface. _This is it. This is how I'm going to die…_ A shape in the water moved towards him, and Link dimly wondered if it was a friend or foe. His vision was blurring and he was still being pulled along in the current. Hands grabbed onto his tunic, and amazingly he was pulled to the surface. His head broke the water and someone pulled him up the riverbank. The world was going dim. _No…this is how I'm going to die…_ Hands pushed on his chest, pushed _hard_, and water spurted from his mouth. Link promised himself that he would never swim again. The hands pushed again and again, and Link tried to gasp for air, but none would come. 

                "Damn it…" A distant voice swore. A mouth covered his, fingers holding his nose closed. Air was forced into his lungs. Link sucked it in, sputtering as he realized that there was more water in his chest. Finding the energy to turn over, Link threw up into the grass. Head spinning, he coughed hoarsely, looking up at his rescuers. One was Sheik; he was the one who breathed life into him again, the other was a blue fish-like girl. Behind them were Navi and Shaya, but all looked worried for him. 

                 Sheik pulled him into a hug, though it wasn't light enough to prevent Sheik from making him wince. Sheik pulled Link closer to him, peering at his back. A long gash following parallel to his spine bled evenly. Sheik swore again, running a finger down the slice. Link gasped in pain, feeling the familiar coolness of Sheik's healing power. He leaned into Sheik, burying his face in the hollow of Sheik's neck. He wasn't dead, but he'd been pretty damn close. 

                "I have to stop doing this." Link rasped. 

                "Yes, you do." Sheik agreed. 

                The fishlike girl peered at Link. "You okay, boy?"

                Link nodded. "Yes, thank you. You were the one who pulled me out, weren't you?"

                She grinned. "My name's Ruto, the princess of the Zoras. I was just going to watch you come to us, but when you fell in…" She blushed. "You're a terrible swimmer."

                "Thank you." Sheik said to her. Ruto eyed how he still held Link and made a noice in the back of her throat. 

                Ruto talked to Link directly. "I want you to meet my father."

~*~*~*~*~

                Link, Sheik, Shaya and Navi had been taken through the waterfall of Zora's Domain, up a long path to the King's chamber. When they entered the room, the princess Ruto was already there, standing beside her father. The aquatic girl smiled slyly at Link, waving at him with one hand. Link smiled in returned, and she giggled, ducking behind her father. The King hummed in deep thought, examining the four messengers before him with interest. 

                "Such young hatchlings…" He mused. "And you expect me to grant you possession of the Zora's Sapphire?"

                "Begging your pardon, majesty," Link said, for once trying a hand at diplomacy, "but it is of the utmost importance. "

The king peered at him specifically. "And who might you be, young guppie?"

"Link, sir, of the forest."

"He is the Child of Destiny." Navi said bluntly. "It is his destiny that he should hold the stones of the Goddesses." She stared at the Zora King. "If he does not, the future of the land is at risk."

The King looked at Navi, expression thoughtful. "Such a bold youngling. I can tell you speak the truth…" He hugged his daughter. "Since Ruto speaks so highly of you…" The princess grinned at Link. "…And since I think you have had enough of trouble for one day, I will grant you the Zora's Sapphire. Ruto will take you to its keep."

The princess slid from the dais, splashing into the water. "Come with me!" She waved a fin at them, beckoning them to follow. "Hurry up! You go so slow!"

The four followed the Zora through the winding passages of the Domain, to a room with a large clam for a door. Ruto stopped, winking at Link. "I'll be right back." She disappeared behind it. 

Link twiddled his thumbs, nervous and needing something to distract him from the weird look on Sheik's face. The Sheikah has been tense ever since he had fallen in the river. Link blushed when he thought of the moment when he thought he was dying, and Sheik brought him back. Sheik was always there for him when he blundered and messed things up. Somehow he knew Sheik would always be. 

"Here it is!" Ruto appeared again. She held out the sapphire for them to see. It was a large as both her hands, and it glimmered in the dim light of the room. Link reached to take it. Ruto pulled it away. "Uh-uh." She said playfully. "You have to promise me something first."

Link blinked. "Okay."

Ruto danced. "Okay! You have to promice me that when we're grown up, you'll bring this back to me, okay?"

"Um, okay."

Ruto squealed and handed the sapphire to Link. "I knew that you would do it, my beloved!"

Sheik's eyes narrowed. "Beloved?"

Ruto ignored him, hugging a startled and confused Link. "I'll wait for you, Link!" She bounded away, and down the corridor."

Shaya looked after her. "What do you suppose that was all about?"

Link pocketed the jewel. "It doesn't matter. We need to go back to the castle." Beloved? Maybe it was a strange Zora custom thing.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I know that it isn't fair that Link is always the one to get attacked, but… It's supposed to be that way… Besides, Sheik, Shaya and Navi are much more careful than Link. Link…is a klutz. XD

Link: Hmph. 

Sheik: Well, you are…

Link: ::trips::

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	9. Together

Chapter Eight: Together

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Disclaimer: I hear by disclaim ownership to LOZ and all afflicted characters. 

                This chapter is rated FS for Fluffy/Sappy content. (lol) Also, I warn you all once again of the yaoi factor, and the fact that, hey, Link and Sheik are both guys who like each other That Way. Homophobes, away! 

                Everyone else… :D Enjoy! 

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                They returned to the palace the next day, only to find that the King had gone away for a week. In his absence, the Queen offered Link his former rooms, and invitation to stay. Much to Link's dismay, Sheik and Shaya vanished upon their arrival, and Navi disappeared, as was her custom. Once more he found himself alone and forlorn, bewildered and wondering where he was going to go next. He had done what the King had asked; all he had to do was give the Stones to him. He couldn't stay at the castle forever, and the forest wouldn't take him back…

                He brought his knees to his chest, shivering in the nook of a tree's roots. _I feel so lonely…_ A snap of a twig and the rustle of clothing drew his attention, and Link came to his feet. He could hear the murmuring of voices, and he went to investigate. 

                What he found was Sheik, talking to a woman in a pale pink dress, not too far away. They were whispering quickly in low voices. _Who is that_? _Why is Sheik dressed that way?_ He wore a soft crimson tunic, and dark cinnamon pants. His feet were in soft-soled shoes, and his harp was not present. 

                "Where are you going, Sheik?" The girl asked. "Not to see him, are you?"

                Sheik narrowed his eyes at her. "Of course I am, Zelda. We've been here for three days and I haven't seen Link for even a minute." He peered at her suspiciously. "It seems that there's always a conference I have to go to, or someone that I have to meet. Are you purposely keeping me away from him?" 

                Link gasped. _The princess? Can he speak to her like that?_

                Zelda looked at him helplessly. "Sheik, I'm only trying to help you…you know what Mother would say if she found out…"

                Sheik shook his head. "I'm not any of her concern anymore, Zelda, you know that. I belong with the Sheikah, now; the blood rose true in me."

                "It doesn't mean that she doesn't care for you, Sheik." She paused. "Zenrik…

                "Don't' call me that." Sheik said sharply. "That's not who I am." He indicated his clothes. "This is not who I am."

                "Not anymore." Zelda said sadly. She touched him lightly on the shoulder, and then moved away, disappearing into the leafy surroundings silently. 

                Sheik sighed, rubbing his eyes, and Link suddenly realized that Sheik was just as alone as he was. "How much of that did you hear?" Sheik asked, turning to look at where Link was hiding.

                "What?" Link blurted, startled at the discovery. He stepped out of the bushes meekly. "How did you—"

                "I can feel you anywhere in the palace." Sheik said, smiling. "And I can sense that you are confused."

                "I don't understand…" Link stammered. "That name…the princess…her mother…"

                The red-eyed youth nodded. "Do you remember Shaya?"

                "Of course."

                "That was Zelda in disguise."

                Link frowned. _I knew there was something different about her._ "Then she's not really your sister?"

                Sheik led him to a near-by marble seat. He sat down, and gestured for Link to join him. "No, she _is_ my sister."

                "But then…" Link jumped up, giving a half-bow. "You're…Your Highness!"

                "No!" Sheik's eyes went wide, a flash of distress momentarily visible. "Don't call me that! Please!" He jerked Link back into a sitting position beside him. "I'm not the crown prince of Hyrule, and I will never be!"

                "B-but I don't understand…"

                "Zelda is my twin and I am hers, through and through, I will not deny that. But when we were born, she had naught but a drop of Sheikah blood in her." Sheik released his hold on Link. "This bred her ability to foresee the future. I, however, retained the entirety of the Sheikah blood strain."

                "What does that have to do with anything?" 

                "Don't' you understand? The Sheikah are sworn protectors of the crown, they will never hold the throne." Sheik gazed at Link miserably. "I have been disowned as the King's only son. Now I am Zelda's protector."

                "And Zenrik—"

                "Is my born name." Sheik said. "One that I will never use again."

                Link stared at his hands. "I'm sorry, Sheik."

                Sheik didn't say anything for a moment. "Don't be." He finally decided. "This makes life much easier for me."

                "How so?"

                Sheik looked at Link for a moment, a small smile curving on his face. "As a child of the crown, my life would be planned out for me. Who I associated with, who I met, and ultimately who I would marry." Taking Link's face in his hands, he ran a thumb over the young hero's lips. "Without that obligation, I may choose all those things for myself. I may choose…" He drifted, lightly brushing his mouth against Link's. "Who I would love…"

                "Love?" Link blinked, eyes boring into a world of crimson waters. 

                Sheik only nodded, drawing away from Link. He tilted his head to the sky, sunlight gathering on his face like a halo. "Love is something that grows over time, Link, much like a true friendship does. A feeling in the heart that grows stronger over time will blossom into a righteous power and through it you will know which way to go."

                Link hesitantly kissed Sheik, drawing the Sheikah into his arms. "Then I…love you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

::sniffle:: Aww…aren't they so cute? So warm and together and happay….

Ganon: NOT FOR LONG! HAHAHAHAHA!

Link/Sheik: Aw, crap…

Yeah…Sheik's real name ain't that great, but…he'll never have to use it! Ha! … Sorry… Never mind…

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	10. Tricked

Chapter Nine: Tricked

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Disclaimer: I don't. Don't what, you ask? I think you know what I'm talking about.

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"He waits for you in the Temple of Time." The Queen had told them. 

It was a week later, and the King had finally returned. Navi came to Link and Sheik early in the morning, where they had fallen asleep in the Royal gardens. Navi prodded them awake, her usual expression of no expression present on her face. 

"We have to go."

Sheik had dressed in the clothes that he wore during their travels, not the ones that he donned at the palace. Link didn't ask, but he had the feeling that it was a defiance of sorts. The Hylian didn't question it. 

The three of them left the castle, Shaya –Zelda- not present with them. Walking down the path to the city, Link had a strange feeling of deja vu. It was the same path that they had taken, with the same people that they had brought, at the start of Link's quest. He was surprised to feel slightly saddened as he realized that his travel had come to a close and his job was done. 

Sheik wrapped an arm around Link's shoulders, whispering in his ear. "Will you stay with me, after this is done?" He asked lightly. "If you want to return to the forest, I'll understand-"

Link shook his head, momentarily resting his head on Sheik's shoulder. "I want to stay with you."

Sheik smiled, brushing drifting bangs out of Link's eyes. The three of them climbed the steps of the temple, pausing at the top to bow in front of the doors. Navi pushed open the door and they entered. The humming sound of the ages echoed around them, chanting in ancient Hylian. Light shone in from the tall glass windows on the walls, and two figures stood across the hall. 

The first was the King, and the second Link recognized as the princess Zelda…Sheik's sister. Sheik's expression tightened, and he dropped his arm from around Link. Zelda looked up at them, the same strained look on her face as she gazed at Sheik. She spoke quietly to the King. "Father, they've arrived."

The King turned to face them, his bright blue eyes sharp. "Do you have the ruby and the sapphire?" 

Navi produced them, bowing as she presented them to the king. 

                The King took them, his gaze strangely over bright. "At last. I have them all."

                Zelda frowned at her father. "Excuse me, but we only have two."

                "Oh?" The King said, turning to the pedestal of the stones. "Do we?" He placed the sapphire into the third slot, an audible click sounding. The ruby was pushed into the middle slot. 

                "Fa-" Sheik broke off. "Your Highness…what are you doing?"

                "Something that I've been waiting all too long for, my dear _Zenrik_." The King said snidely, reaching into his pocket. His fist clenched, he pulled out the Kokiri Emerald. 

                Link's eyes widened. "Where did you get that?!"

                The King laughed, and Zelda backed away, fear written into her features. She stood beside Navi and Sheik, and the four of them watched as the King spun to face them. "You fools don't understand?" The King's eyes rolled back in his head, and he fainted to the floor.

                "Father!" Zelda cried out. 

                "Wait." Sheik caught her arm as she leapt forward. A misty shadow appeared over the king, and a tall man slowly materialized. He sneered at the young teens, dark features flashing dangerously.              

                To everyone's surprise, it was Navi who snarled at him. "Ganon." She hissed uncharacteristically. "Because of you, this body is empty!" She glared up at him. 

                Ganon examined her curiously before it dawned on him. "Of course… That Kokiri brat that was being 'born.'" He smiled wickedly. "How is it that you survived?"

                "That business is none of yours." Link said sharply. "Give back the emerald and the other stones."

                "Give them back?" Ganon raised an eyebrow. "What a peculiar notion. You _gave_ these two to me, boy."

                "Give them to us, or we will take them by force." Sheik said. 

                Ganon laughed. "You four? What humour you have today, Zenrik!"

                "Don't call me that."

                Ganon smirked at him. "Of course. It doesn't matter really; you can take your silly little gems. They are of no use to me anymore." Before an inquiry to this statement could be made, a deep rumbling thundered in the temple. He swept his arm behind him in one grand motion, revealing that the tall marble door was sliding open. "The Door of Time has been opened for me, and now I will retrieve the _real_ gem; the Triforce!" He vaulted the pedestal of Time, standing in front of the door. "When I return…we'll see what I can really do…" He moved through the hazy curtain of the door, the shimmering water-like surface rippling as it swallowed him. 

Link, a determined look on his face, hefted his spear and shouldered his quiver and bow. 

Sheik sang out from behind him, eyes widening as he realized what Link was going to do. "Wait, let me come with you." 

Link shook his head. "Stay here, Sheik. Help the King."

"Link, at least-"

"There's no time, Sheik!" Link approached the door. "I have to do this; I know I do."

Sheik tried again, his voice cracking with despair. "Link! Don't do this! You may never return to us!" His sister restrained him. "You may never return to me…"

Link didn't look back. He knew that if he did, he'd never have the courage to do this. The Hylian eyed the door carefully. "Love you always, Sheik…" And he vanished through it. 

Sheik broke free of Zelda's grip and ran over to the door. Navi blocked his path, and he glared at her. "Move!"

The Kokiri looked at him mildly. "No."

"No?"

Navi shook her head. "This is not your fate, Sheik. Link is the Hero of Time. If he cannot do this, then no one can."

Sheik bit his lip, taking a step back. "But Link…"

"He's quite extraordinary." Navi said. "May the Green Lady favour him in this time." 

~~

Link felt as if he crossed thousands of miles with the one step he took. A glance behind him showed a glowing doorway, much like the one in the Temple of Time. He started forward through the misty grass, heading for the only structure nearby – a giant gold pyramid in the distance. Link could see a dark shape ahead of him, black cape fluttering behind him. Ganon.

Link's eyes narrowed, and he broke into a run, using the tall grass to hide him. He ran crouched over, spear low beside him. Maybe if he could catch Ganon off guard, he could end this before it began. The dark man towered in front of him; spinning as Link jumped out of hiding, spear raised high. 

"You!" Ganon blocked him with his sword, slicing cleanly through the wood shaft of the spear. "You cannot possible think to stop me!" Sheathing his weapon, the Gerudo King turned and ran for the pyramid. 

Link winced as he lifted himself off the ground, winded. His broken pieces of spear fell from his hands, and he took off after Ganon. Even as the dark king reached the stairs and started up the long climb, Link knew that there was no way that he could catch up to him. He was too far away. By the time that Ganon was half way up, Link had only reached the bottom. Link paused, panting, and drew out his bow. The arrows had been made by Sheik himself, and Link could imagine the Sheikah in his mind. _I should've kissed him one last time..._ Drawing the arrow, Link aimed for Ganon and quickly let go. It flitted off of his shoulder, and Ganon stumbled. Link redrew, and fired once more, but this one shattered at Ganon's feet as he leapt up and kept on going. 

Link shot a third arrow, but Ganon had changed his pace, trying to throw off Link's aim. Link drew a fourth, knowing that only a few paces away was the pyramid's tip, and the Triforce. 

Link let the arrow fly.

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What's this? A CLIFF HANGER??? BWAHAHAHA! Yeah, I know that I never do that, and I know that you're going to hunt me down for doing such a thing, but that's where it's going to end. That's where I want it to end. 

Besides, this update brings you _four frickin' chapters at once!!!_ HOW RARE IS THAT? Go read on and find out what happens!!

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	11. Seven Years Later

Chapter Ten: Seven Years Later

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Disclaimer: I disclaim everything. Except Kadros, because he owns himself, and Shaya, cuz I created her… Sort of. 

This chapter will see the appearance of Kadros The Minion of Time, as a Sheikah. Heh. I promised him a guest shot in one of my stories, _ages_ ago… Do you remember that, Kadros? Hell, for once I didn't forget something! HA! … Anyway, as it is his appearance, I urge you to go and check out Kadros' fic, **A True Friend**. It's great and amazing. Feed him reviews! (Er…and me too, while you're at it…)

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I looked into his eyes and all I saw was my reflection staring back. There was no warmth, no feeling. He reached out a pale hand to me, and I couldn't help but back away. Who was this apparition? Who was this being that would dare impersonate my beloved? I didn't know what was going on, but I didn't want it to happen…

                Sheik bolted upright, hands gripping the cotton sheets tightly to his bare chest. It was the third time he had had the dream in four days…each was clearer and more urgently disturbing than the last. He threw off the covers and stood shivering on the cold bedroom floor of his house in Kakariko Village. The feeling of dread clung to him as he changed, and he had to stop and splash water on his face several times to avoid lapsing into the memory of the dream. 

                It had been seven years since that fateful date…since that day that Link was suddenly and completely torn out of Sheik's life. There wasn't a moment when Sheik couldn't see his beloved striding into the Sacred Realm, a determined look on his face, armed with nothing but a Kokiri-made spear and Sheikah arrows. Immediately following that image, however, was Ganon, stalking out of the Sacred Realm; alone and unharmed, holding up his fist in triumph. He had gotten hold of the Triforce, and he now had the piece of Power. The first thing that the king of evil did was seal the Door of Time, and made it so that it couldn't be opened again. Link had been trapped. Alone. 

                Sheik shuddered, tying a woven belt of white bandages around his waist, in honor and memory of the many Sheikah that had died in the Final Battle. He, himself, was one of the handful of survivors, bent on releasing the Child of Destiny and bringing order to the land once more. Sheik stood in front of a full-length mirror. Gone was the innocent and carefree clothing of a young Sheikah. He now bore the full navy bodysuit, matching leather boots, and white over shirt with the Eye, of a Sheikah warrior. He still went unarmed, and still only carried his harp, in a leather case, on his back. It was all he had. It was all he needed. 

                Sheik was jerked out of his thoughtful reverie by a low, uneven gasping. Throwing himself into a half crouch, he made his way to the window peering outside. Eyes fell on a dark lump in the bushes, a scuffling revealing that it was a person moving around. 

                "Sheik!" Hissed a voice.

                Sheik leaned out. "Kadros? Is that you?" Hearing a grunt of acknowledgement, he went on. "What are you doing?"

                "Redead…losing life force…help me, please!"

                "Goddesses above!" Reaching out with one arm, Sheik half-pulled, half dragged a young man out of the bushes, carefully pulling him into the house via the window. The one called Kadros winced as he was lowered onto the bed, one hand flying to his shoulder. He wore the uniform of the Sheikah as well, substituting the white over shirt for a black one still bearing the Eye. Sheik tore the top of Kadros' shirt with a sharp jerk, exposing the wound to the air. There was no bandaging, and the imprint of the injury seemed to be in the shape of a hand, nails digging into the skin. The flesh on Kadros' shoulder was starting to decay. 

                "By the Eye! You left this unattended!" Tracing the wound with a single finger, a glowing line was left in his wake. Sheik was stopped as Kadros gripped his wrist.

                "There was no time, Sheik. We had to get word to you…something has happened in the Temple."

                "Is it Link?" Sheik asked urgently, with sudden hope. "Has he returned?"

                Kadros nodded. "But the redead in the city attacked—had to get word out. Don't know if…"

                "Did you not play the Sun's Song?" Sheik asked, referring to a song that repelled the dead. "There are but few—"

                "There were many." Kadros interrupted, smoky claret eyes flashing. "They came at us all at once, working together. It was as if they were possessed." Kadros gripped Sheik's wrist tighter. "They came _into the temple_, Sheik. _All _of them."

                Sheik frowned, placing hands on the encircled wound. At the contact, Kadros hissed, pale pink light resounding on his skin as Sheik applied his healing talents. _The temple is holy ground; the dead cannot – no – will not walk there. It gives them great pain to even come near. _Sheik lifted his hands from Kadros, revealing skin that was unbroken and healthy. "What happened?"

                Kadros took a deep breath, absently rubbing his shoulder. "They surrounded Link. Rauru had broken the seal on the Door of Time. Link tumbled out, and the redead appeared, going directly for him." Kadros sat up, fiddling with his torn shirt. "Janiv sent me to retrieve you." 

                Sheik stood to pace the room. "What," Sheik asked again, "Happened to Link?" 

                Kadros hesitated. "I don't know. I was coming to you. All I saw was Link, Janiv and a few others being cornered."

                Sheik paused, his jaw set. "Then let us leave. We must go to the Temple of Time."

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A short little thing, but completely necessary. And look! Sheik is all grown up! 

See ya around,

OracleVortex

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	12. Memories

Chapter Eleven: Memories  
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Disclaimer: I disclaim everything.  
  
As always, I am sorry about delay. In this chapter, italics mean flashbacks. Cheers, all!    
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On horseback, Kadros and Sheik started off to Castle Town at a moderate pace. Sheik resisted to run the horses ragged, a million thoughts racing through his mind at once. What had happened? Where his people all right? Was Link all right? Had he changed? Why was he back? Why…?  
  
Sheik took a deep breath, nudging his horse slightly. He had to clear his thoughts…stay alert. With what happened at the temple, how knows what else was bound to go strange. Keeping a careful gaze about him, Sheik relented a little, mind wandering to his past…

_Zelda pulled on his arm, making them vanish into the long hallways of the temple. "Come on, Sheik! There's no time!"  
  
"But Link--!" Sheik sobbed, distraught and despairing. "He's still in there! He could still be alive!"  
  
Zelda turned on him, eyes flaring. "It doesn't matter right now! We have to get out of here! Ganon has the Triforce of Power! He will be the end of us all!"  
  
Sheik yanked his arm away from Zelda. "I won't leave Link behind!"  
  
"You WILL!" Zelda snatched him back into her grip. "Stay here now, and you both will be lost before the darkness comes! We need to preserve what we can!"  
  
Sheik's eyes widened as they hurried through the hall of portraits. They passed their father's, and then Zelda's…Sheik's was not there… "You knew about this, didn't you? You foresaw something!"  
  
"This is not the time!"  
  
"You saw this coming, and you let Link go in there!" Sheik wrenched away from her, stumbling into a nook in the wall. "You let him go in there!"  
  
Zelda threw her arms into the air, looking down the hall the way that they came. "You know the extent of my visions! I saw nothing more than a green light vanishing in the darkness! That could have been any number of things-"  
  
"But you didn't even tell me about it!"  
  
"I had no reason to!" Zelda cried. "You feel so far away from me! It's like you can't even act like you're my brother anymore!"  
  
"I can't!" Sheik said, his voice cracking. "I can't and you know that!" He gasped dryly, shaking. "My blood rose to a different calling than yours – I'm a Sheikah, now."  
  
"You can't be both?" Zelda whispered, joining him in the nook. "Can't you be both my brother and a Sheikah?"  
  
"If you were any other person than the heir to the throne, than yes…" Sheik stared at her, and she wrapped him in a hug. "But even Father admits that the law won't allow it. The Hylians lead, and the Sheikah-"  
  
"Serve..." Zelda said with him. "Yes, but…you're my other half and I can't just pretend you don't exist…"  
  
"I know…" Sheik said. They were silent for a few minutes, listening to a rumble in the distance.   
  
"We have to get away." Zelda said. "What are we going to do?" For a second, she lost the look of a future ruler of Hyrule, and seemed to be endlessly lost. Sheik hugged her tightly.   
  
"We'll go to Impa. She'll know what to do…"  
  
Sheik sighed lightly, remembering. Zelda. They had a lot of tough times together as kids, and even more as adults. Impa, a trained Sheikah, had always been their nanny, something that Sheik had always thought of as a demeaning job, but Impa didn't seem to mind. She welcomed it as a chance to protect someone that needed to live, no matter the cost. It was a matter of duty and honor and skill. Zelda was the princess, and Sheik, up until his eyes had turned color, had been the prince. Now Sheik was taking the lessons of the role of protector and defender. Impa had been right. It wasn't so bad.   
  
I hope they're all right… He thought about his sister, and about Impa, and about all the others that were close and cherished to him. Were. Were close to him. It pained Sheik to think of them in a past tense, but that was the way it was. After the First Battle, Sheik was lucky that he was one of the survivors…  
  
_Impa___ shielded her eyes from the sun; gaze distant as she watched the far away shadows creep up on _Kakariko___Village__. Ganon had sent an army of Gerudo forces to attack the small town. Word had come from a scout, who nearly killed herself in getting the word to the people, and all who were able to hold a weapon, and use it effectively, were gearing up. The Sheikah were answering the call to battle.  
  
Zelda, dressed as her Sheikah identity, crouched at Impa's feet, rubbing her eyes. "The village will fall, Impa." She said in a whisper. "I have foreseen it. Many will die."  
  
_Impa___ dropped off the spy tower, rolling to her feet on the ground. Zelda and Sheik followed, waiting for her response. The elder fighter crossed her arms. "Sheik."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
_"Take Shaya to the Great Faerie of the Mountain. She will be safe with her." She glanced behind her at the entrance to the Goron realm.  
  
"Yes, Impa." Sheik said.  
  
Zelda shook her head vigorously. "I am not going to just let you do this! Your people will be destroyed!" A group of teens nearby stopped to listen. "Ganon cannot be stopped!"  
  
Impa spun on the girl, eyes flashing dangerously. "Quiet, Shaya!" She said pointedly, shooting a glance at the group who was staring. They suddenly moved into motion, whispering as they scattered. "We must defend our princess at all costs! The crown must not be lost!"  
  
"This is foolish!" Zelda cried. "You know what I've s—"  
  
"Do you think you are the only one who has?" Impa interrupted. "Do you think that no one else has foreseen this event? That the people grimly taking up arms didn't see this coming?" Zelda quieted at this, and Impa leaned in to speak quietly to her. "We are not blind to the inevitability of our death, Zelda…but if you waste this chance to escape into the air, then it will all be for nothing. Do you understand me?"  
  
The princess nodded, chastised. "Yes…of course."  
  
"Good…Sheik?"  
  
He stepped forward. "We'll go, right away." He hesitated, about to say more, but changed his mind.  
  
"May the Goddesses and the Eye protect and watch over you."  
  
"Over us all." Sheik murmured in response.  
  
Sheik stared up, unbelievingly at the great slabs of stone and rock, blocking their path into the mountain. As they both looked upwards, they could see that there had been an avalanche, causing a part of the mountain to break away.  
  
They couldn't get to the Great Faerie.   
  
"We have to go back." Zelda said quietly.   
  
"You can't be put in that danger." Sheik said immediately. Though he wanted to go and help his friends, saving Zelda was his first priority.  
  
His sister shook her head. "Then what are we going to do? Dig through? That would bring attention, not divert it, and it would leave us at a disadvantage. We have to go back."  
  
"Zelda…"  
  
"If we are found here, it's going to look suspicious! What would two Sheikah be doing, digging out the mountain blockade when their kinsmen are in battle?"  
  
"We are not-"  
  
"We are so!" Zelda said. "We can do this!"  
  
"But…" The desire to fight was very, very tempting…  
  
"Come on!" Zelda demanded, grabbing his arm and pulling them back down the path. "We're going to go do the right thing!"  
  
But when they reached the village, the idea was less appealing. Fires burned, and bodies were lying on the ground; most of them bearing the Eye. There were shouts and cries, and the slowly growing smell of blood. Sheik's flesh crawled, the horror of a healer filling him instantly. His mind's eye blurred, and his soul was screaming…he knew those blank, empty faces that were coated in blood…   
  
"Oh, goddess…" Sheik choked out.  
  
"Look out!" A voice cried. Sheik instinctively ducked and turned, narrowly missing an overhead slice from a Gerudo sword. The woman raised an eyebrow, coming at him with a savage speed, that he was only barely able to counter. Ducking under her high jump, Sheik swung back with one hand, hitting a pressure point on her shoulder. She gasped and fell, arms twitching. Sheik steadied himself, and gave a chop to her neck, destroying a series of blood vessels and cords. His soul was crying as she fell to the ground, her eyes blank and empty…it was an image that was growing to be not too fond with the Sheikah.   
  
"Sheik!" The blond spun again, going into a strike position. The bleeding youth before him came up, two long knives in hand. "What are you doing here? I thought you were sent to save the princess!" Smoky claret eyes glimmered at him.  
  
Sheik suddenly looked around. Zelda! Where did she go? "I was, but the way to the mountain is blocked! We came back!"  
  
"Where is she?"  
  
"Oh, no, Kadros – she was just right… Dammit!"   
  
Kadros wiped his brow on one sleeve. "You lost her?!"  
  
Sheik didn't have time to answer, as he and Kadros were on the defense once again. Four Gerudo came at them at the same time, and they were forced against the side of a house. Two of the enemy women fell, and the other two pinned the men to the wall.   
  
"Pick up a weapon!" Kadros said, rolling his shoulder back painfully to avoid losing his arm.   
  
"No!" Sheik said defiantly, feinting and sweeping under a sword thrust. "A healer takes no blade!"  
  
"A healer takes no life, either!" Kadros exclaimed. Sheik's expression hardened, but at the end of the four-way wrangle, both Sheikah were left standing.   
  
"No blades." Sheik said breathlessly.   
  
"Sheik!" A cry reached his ears. Kadros heard it too, and pointed to the platform near the spy tower. Shaya – Zelda to Sheik – was standing over a woman with long red hair. Two guards dressed as commanders of their group, were attacking her. "Help!"  
  
Sheik and Kadros came her aid, taking the Gerudo by surprise. The women avoided their attacks with skill, taking on the two new challengers with ease. Kadros shouted to Sheik.  
  
"Heal her!" He said. "Get her back in the fight!"  
  
Sheik kneeled by the redhead, tilting her face up to see it. He gasped, barely recognizing the woman. "Anju?"  
  
There was a gash across her features, starting from one ear and ending on the opposite of her face, just under her jaw. There was blood everywhere, but the slice didn't seem too deep. "Sheik...why are you here?"  
  
"Hush…" The clashing of blade on blade made him press his hand to Anju's face; there was no time to waste in this battle. She jerked, but was too proud to cry out as the painful tingling of the healing passed over her. Sheik quickly pushed away the beginning edges of infection, restoring torn flesh and rebuilding blood vessels. Starting under the flesh and working his way up, he was almost done the skin surface when he suddenly had to stop.  
  
"Ah!" He cried out, healing touch fluttering as he felt the foreign length of steel slide cut into his shoulder and punching through the other side. He clenched his jaw, feeling and hearing the sword grate on his collarbone. Anju's eyes flew open, and she pulled Sheik off the weapon, and to the ground. He shuddered violently, crimson splashing out to soak Anju's pant leg. The woman grasped her fallen weapon, making Sheik crouch further behind the shield of Sheikah.   
  
"Make a bandage!" She yelled at him, standing..   
  
"Your face –" Sheik gasped, pushing his self into a sitting position. His blood spilled over his fingers, but he could do nothing to stop it. It was the healer's curse – heal others, but not yourself. "I'm not done-!"  
  
Anju parried an oncoming attack from yet another wave of Gerudo women. "No time!" Beside her, Shaya and Kadros took on enemy after oncoming enemy. Sheik, with a visible hole through his shoulder, passed out, and knew not what happened afterwards…_  
  
Sheik stopped the memory, ignoring the painful tinge in his right shoulder. It had taken Kadros, the only other remaining healer other than himself, just to keep him stable for the next week. If it were not for the blood transfusions from Zelda, and his own healer's immune system, he would not have survived at all. He owed his life to the both of them.   
  
Kadros and Sheik rode to a stop outside the castle gates, dismounting. Sending the horses off, the two Sheikah waded across the narrow, shallow river, to the other side. After checking to see if the coast was clear, they dropped through a hidden hole, and started into the city underground.   
  
Sheik rushed to the Temple of Time, cloaked and edgy. With Ganon's castle so near by; Sheik struggled to ignore the stench of evil and shadow. Kadros had separated from him, going a different way to the temple. It was dangerous to come and go as they did; being followed or found out, would be disastrous for them all. Sheik climbed a ladder back into the street, and squeezed between two fallen timbers of wood, carefully and silently walking across a piece of collapsed rooftop that was missing shingles and braces. The young man slipped into an overgrown garden, lifting up a piece of the pavement to drop into another one of the many secret underground passages of the city. It was cramped and worn, dusty with age, but they had proved useful in the past years.   
  
Sheik walked a ways in the dark, finally coming to an old door. Though it appeared to be old and worn, it opened without sound, and closed without the slightest thump. It led into a cellar room, and the stairs in that room led to the temple. Sheik shook the dust from his cloak, sighing quietly to himself. There was a strange apprehensive feeling in his stomach – something that he had not felt in years.   
  
Kadros was sitting on a barrel near the stairs. He shook his head with a smile. "Even though you know this place inside and out, I still manage to beat you here. Why is that?"  
  
Sheik adjusted the ties around his wrist. "I take the long way around."  
  
"Why?" Kadros asked curiously. "There are several shorter ways that are just as safe." If it were any other person, Sheik would not have answered, but he and the other Sheikah had been through too much – they were more brothers than kinsmen.   
  
"It's a path of memory for me." Sheik said quietly. "The princess and I escaped this way."  
  
Kadros nodded. "I see." He said softly. "We should go." Sheik nodded in agreement. They climbed the stairs, and winded through the long polished halls of the temple. As always, it hummed with pure power, singing the songs of the ancient past. Sheik and Kadros passed through the hall of portraits, but time had not been kind to the pictures. Some had their canvas ripped and slashed, others were coated in dust. The one of Zelda was gone all together. Going into a large circle area, Kadros spoke to Sheik quickly.   
  
"Janiv and Baero are in the council room." Kadros informed him. "They're fine, but there are five injured. They're recovering slowly; you might want to take a look at them."  
  
Sheik nodded in agreement. "Of course." They passed through a hall filled with light, crystals and diamonds dangling in front of the windows. "Was that all that were injured?"  
  
Kadros pulled back the curtain to the main temple room, a closed expression on his face. "That's all that's left."  
  
Sheik stopped to look at him in horror. "Just five?"  
  
"Five, Janiv and Baero, you and I." Kadros confirmed.   
  
"But…" Sheik shook his head. "Your sister?"  
  
Kadros turned away from him, going to meet a girl firing at targets in a training area. "She rests with The Eye, now." He called out to the girl. "Yolena!"  
  
She flipped her braided hair over one shoulder. "Kadros! You're back!" Wine colored eyes shifted Sheik's way. "Sheik! So he did find you!"  
  
"Did you ever doubt me?" Kadros said, hugging her from behind. "Where's our silent hero?"  
  
Yolena smiled and pushed him away. "On the covered balcony."  
  
Kadros laughed, taking Sheik by the shoulders and steering him to an open archway. "There you go…be sure to see to the healing, after."  
  
Sheik was shoved onto the covered balcony, blinking to compensate for the change in lighting. It was a wide-open space, with only torches at regular intervals around the area. A single blond Hylian stood in the very center, stripped to the waist, with a naked longsword in one hand. Sheik almost gasped as he saw that the weapon was the Master Sword. It was supposed to be in the Sacred Realm!  
  
Sheik's heart quivered as he watched the young man at work. Link would slowly go through the sword movements, flowing from one stance to the next with a breath-taking grace. Sheik blinked and swallowed hard, fighting to tear his eyes away from the captivating, smooth Hylian. Muscles shifted under beautifully bronzed skin, and Link's golden locks of hair swayed with each motion. Although Link's eyelids were shut, Sheik could imagine the sparkling, endless depth of glittering sapphire that blazed with a glorious inner fire.  
  
Link slowly came to a stop, freezing in a standpoint that was known as 'prayer to the moon.' He sheathed the sword, the blade humming in the silence. "It's been a while, Sheik." He said quietly.   
  
"By the Eye, yes…" Sheik whispered. "When did you know I was here?"  
  
Link turned, gaze soft as he plucked a shirt off of an empty torch bracket. "When you stepped into the cellar room." He replied. "I can feel you anywhere in the Temple." He moved to meet Sheik, who was unsure of what to do. "And I can sense that you are unhappy."  
  
Sheik gave a small burst of a laugh, recognizing the words that he had once spoken to Link, so long ago. They met in an embrace that was long overdue, tightly clinging to each other like there was nothing left for them to do. Sheik breathed deeply, inhaling the scent of smoke and sweat and forest leaves. So different…he could feel the power in the young man he had dreamed about for the last seven years. "Link…"  
  
And they stayed like that for what seemed like forever, delighting in an indulgence they hadn't had since they were children.   
  
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Oh…and there seems to be some confusion on their ages in the fic… They started off as fifteen, but now they are twenty-two. Cheers!_


	13. Filled Blanks

Back! Thought I forgot about this one, did you? …okay, maybe a little. I'm sorry.

Well…there's a lot of reading. Most of it back story to fill in the Seven Year War. A lot of storytelling and the like.

**If you're like me and you have a crappy memory, here's a recap of what has happened thus far:**

Link is told that he is a Hylian and not a Kokiri, and must leave the Kokiri Forest. The Great Deku Tree sends him to the Castle Town with Navi, a Kokiri who is able to leave the woods. Sheik, an envoy from the crown, acts as their guide, and takes them to an audience with the king. Navi tells the king that the Kokiri Emerald has been stolen by Ganon, the Thief King of the Gerudos. The King asks Link to retrieve the sacred stones from the Gorons and the Zoras, and lends the aid of Sheik and his sister Shaya.

The group, which also included Navi, traveled to the mountain, visiting the village of Kakariko. They meet Anju, a Hylian healer who lives there, and Link finds out the truth behind Navi's existence. When they petition to the Goron King, to give them the sacred stone, the Goron King asks them to bring him a heart of a full grown Dodongo in order to prove their worth. They do so, and gain the Goron's Ruby. Link was injured in the battle, and Sheik heals him, revealing what he inherited from his Sheikah blood. They visit the Great Faerie at the top of the mountain, and are each given a gift.

Link falls into the water of the Zora's Domain river, and almost drowns. Ruto, the Zora princess, comes to his aid, and pulls him to safety. She then takes them to her father, the Zora King, who grants them the sacred sapphire. Ruto makes Link promise to bring it back to her one day.

They return to the castle, where Link accidentally finds out that Shaya is actually the Princess Zelda, and Sheik is actually a prince of Hyrule. Sheik and Link have an intimate moment, in which they finally confess feelings for one another.

Link, Sheik and Navi take the sacred stones to the King of Hyrule, only to discover that it's not the king at all, but Ganon in disguise! Ganon takes the stones and opens the Door of Time – Link follows him through, and they fight to reach the Triforce. Ganon reaches the Triforce first and locks Link inside the Sacred Realm.

In the last chapter, the story moved seven years ahead, to when Link finally exits from the Door of Time. Sheik and Kadros ride to meet him in the Temple of Time, and Link is brought before the Council of the Sheikah…..

* * *

**Chapter Twelve:** Filled Blanks

Kadros tried not to fidget as he sat in one of the council chairs. With the fight in the temple, he had been informed that he could be one of the four council representatives for the Sheikah in Castle Town, if he so wished. A little part of him - the one they knew he was only being asked because his sister had died and they expected him to fill her shoes - hadn't wanted to take the position. He had talked it over with Yolena, however, and her 'It's an honour, stupid - they asked you because they want you, not because you're Ferrai's brother' shook that voice away.

It was still surreal, though, to be seated with the other eight members of the council. It also felt a bit conspicuous, because of the war, eight of the Sheikah equaled one third of their members. As well, one third was Hylians who obtained Eyes of Truth through their own struggles, and on the council, only two were not full-blooded Sheikah.

Across from Kadros, at the opposite side of the crescent-shaped table, sat the twins Bedira and Beni. They were full blooded Sheikah; they were strong prophets in complete dedication to the Eye. They never spoke more than a few sentences separately and were never out of each other's company. The twins seemed to be of a single mind and consciousness, and tended to offer courses of action that spurred significant movement and action. They came from Lon Lon Ranch, where many Hylians with the Eyes of Truth were concealed as stable hands and horse breeders.

To the right of the twins were the three delegates from Kakariko Village. Viv was a soft-spoken woman who always dressed in white. She has once been an orchardist near the Kokiri Forest, but the war turned her sight to Pure Truth. She could no longer tell lies, see lies or hear lies, and could only see everything for what is was. In comparison, the woman beside her named Nilila only saw the potential in things. The intentions and paths laid before each person and event were visible to her, and often she became tangled in the courses of time. Viv tried to keep her out of trouble, and oftentimes they were seen together; Viv standing watch while Nilila stared off into the future. Nilila was coherent at the moment, and she briefly locked gazes with Kadros, before sliding away into the potential paths of his life.

Beside Kadros, on his left side, were his fellow representatives for the Castle Town Sheikah, and Kadros could privately admit that he found the three of them to be quite intimidating.

Kasaka was probably the most serious person that Kadros had ever met. She had been Impa's second in command in times of peace, and still involved herself heavily in combat training and the basics of hand-to-hand. She worked people to exhaustion and prepared her fighters for any and every situation, no matter how absurd. Kadros once failed a training exercise because

Baero was beside Kasaka, currently engaged in discussing new battle tactics. He was refined and distinguished, but had proven his worth in leadership skills by winning many skirmishes with little preparation. He was the second-in-command of the council, and answered to Janiv first and foremost. Janiv sat at the table's center and watched her fellow Sheikah. She was sometimes hardheaded and brash, but it came mostly from the fact that she was in her mid-twenties, unlike Baero or Kasaka who were in their forties. She showed early on that she was capable of leading her people, and she was one of the last that Impa had trained before tending to the Temple of Shadows. Janiv often had conflicts with Sheik, due to their rivalry in training and due to their different ways of handling situations.

Sheik, for his part, only said what was necessary at meetings, and did his best not to cause her too much unnecessary grief. Sheik was the last to enter the meeting, and took a seat between the twins and Viv, all of which greeted him as he sat. Sheik, of course, was the link to the Queen of Hyrule, and the greatest healer of the Sheikah people. Beni and Bedira often referred to him as the Guide, or the Mask of Wisdom. Kadros didn't pretend to understand that meaning of these titles, and neither did anyone else - the twins often called people by strange names that they could only defer the meaning of.

Kadros stood as Janiv signaled to him, and went to let Link in the chamber. He didn't pretend to understand why he was asked to be present, because among such people, he felt very much like someone plain and plucked from the village.

Kadros closed the door behind Link and took his seat. His eyes lingered on the Master Sword that was slung casually across the Hylian's back. The blade shimmered slightly in the lantern light, and the jewel on the hilt was dark and murky. Link bowed to the council and stood firmly in the middle of the circle chamber, facing Janiv at the center.

"I greet the Council of the Sheikah," Link said formally, his voice soft. His words echoed gently in the chamber.

"We greet you, Link," Janiv said formally, reaching out a hand as she inclined her head to him. Everyone else acknowledged his greeting in a similar fashion, with the twins and Viv staring at Link with a confused curiosity. "At last you have returned to us, here in the lands of Hyrule. Undoubtedly you find that it has changed much since your departure to the Sacred Realm."

Link inclined his head to Janiv in response, though he did not break eye contact with her. "Many things have changed, Janiv."

Baero spoke up then, as if to head off the curious tone that Link's voice had taken on. "If it pleases you," he said politely, "perhaps you could tell us what happened to you, these seven long years." He indicated the sword on Link's back, "Perhaps you could also include the story of the Master Sword."

Link paused, almost stiffly, and shifted his stance. "If it pleases _you,_ Baero, I will speak of this."

"It does," chorused the twins. "Please enlighten us to your trials, Hero of Time."

Link shot a sharp glance at them, "Then I should begin from the time when I last saw the King of Evil…"

"…_Ganon was almost at the top; my spear was broken and gone, and all I had were arrows. He was within steps away from the glowing artefact and my only chance was placed on that one arrow. I put it on the bow and let it fly…_

_But Ganon only batted it out of the way, spinning around to face me with the Triforce clutched in one hand. A look of disgusting greed spread across his face like disease, and I trembled at the foot of the golden pyramid. _

"_I have it!" He cried, leaping into the air effortlessly, upheld by some degree of magical energy he had not possessed a moment before. "The Triforce and its powers are mine to command!"_

_He looked at me and started to say something, but the Triforce burst into beams of gold rays between his fingers. The pyramid melted suddenly, washing across the grassy plains like bleach, coating everything in its path. I was immersed in it as well, but it slid away from me like water would from oil... Ganon was writhing in the air and the Triforce was giving off a constant humming that rubbed against your bones and wriggled through your spirit like Soulworms… _

_I was struck backwards, struck to the ground; windless in the grass. Some of the light filled me, pooling in my hand and then racing out through my body. _

_The grass started to change then – the glassy coating from the pyramid caused it to shift and melt and mold again. It darkened and colored, and curled in on itself. The darkness spread and I got up as quickly as I could – Ganon's heart wasn't pure and it was tainting the Sacred Realm! _

_Ganon was racing back to that door – hovering lightly over the seemingly endless field to that shimmering veil in the distance.  
__  
I couldn't let him get back._

_But he – as I realized later – had the Triforce of power. _

_He reached the door before me._

_As he stepped through it, he turned and shot me a crooked, nasty grin. _

"_I leave it to you."_

_He passed through, the veil vanished in a spurt of sparkle, and I was left to the tainted, dark Sacred Realm. Or as the Dark King had put it, it was left to me. _

_For weeks I struggled, hiding in the last layer of the pyramid, which, for some reason, remained after the rest had melted. The spirits…the souls…the floating orbs of life that shimmered there were swept away, tangible only through the hand of darkness. I saw everything die, decompose and live again – darkened and shaded by what Ganon had taken. _

_A year passed and then two. I couldn't find anything in the realm that would take me back to Hyrule. I even went so far once as to try and join the ranks of the Eye, but it would not accept me. I fought and lived and drew the attention of all the evil around me. Of all the inhabitances there, only I was unreachable by the endless shadow. Only I carried the light of the Triforce. _

_In a dream one night, a figure spoke to me. Her voice was comforting – more so than the forests of Kokiri or the embrace of a lover. She told me to wake up and follow her to the Forest of Illusions. I went as she guided, walking unharmed through the shadowy evils. For a rare once, I was not touched. The darkness and the creatures that thrived in it hissed at me as I passed, but did not come near. _

_I was lead through the Forest of Illusions, by passing the traps and demons that floated there. I had gone into the forest once before, when I believed it to be a sanctuary like the one I had known in Hyrule. The experience nearly drove me mad. This trip, however, was hazy and unclear. The ghosts and spirits seemed to be of no certain concern to me, and I passed into the grove of the Master Sword. _

_The sword stood atop a pedestal, poised at the top of a marble stair. The voice told me to go to it, and I did. I climbed the stair, feeling myself glide from stair to stair, hardly touching down before lifting the foot again. All manner of creatures drew out of the forests, revealing themselves to the light of the sword and of the dais. They watched me as I reached for the weapon, and a moment of breathless existence echoed around me. _

_It fit my grasp perfectly. The grips that wound in concentric circles around the hilt woke curling nerve impulses in my hand. My arm locked, and my shoulder rolled of its own accord – I drew the Master Sword from the pedestal in a single motion, raising it to the light that shone down into the grove. _

_The light flashed across the blade, rivets of white separating into colour and then pooling as one again. The voice sounded again, speaking words that I couldn't understand. Other voices answered her, and they rose in chorus. Something changed within me at that point, and suddenly I understood what it was that I was to do. The voices faded, one-by-one, until I was left with the darkness that had existed after Ganon's influence. I understood it for what it was in that instant, and its hold in me… I carry it with me now…it is neither good nor evil…_

_I returned to where the great pyramid had stood. I remembered the door, creating it as I told you at the beginning of my story. What I imagined, the shadow created for me. The door rose from the earth – a black curtain rising like liquid to the sky. I reached out my hand and I reached out the sword. With both I touched it, and the door opened for me. I stepped through it and found myself back in the Temple of Time. It was such a shock to be presented with such familiarity that I had long forgotten, that I was overwhelmed for a long moment."_

Link stopped here, and it seemed that he had no intention to continue on. The council members exchanged glances, analyzing the story quietly. The man stood still in front of them, contemplating behind a blank gaze.

"Thank you, Link," Janiv said quietly, her brow slightly furrowed. "You may withdraw if you wish."

Link thought it over for a moment, and then shook his head. "I would like to know what you intend for me to do."

"What makes you think that we would intend anything for you?" Nilila asked, her fire-bright eyes glinting as she looked at him. She looked excited and worried at the same time, like she has seen something in her trance that confirmed something about Link.

Link smiled at her. "I am the arm that raises the sword."

"Yes," she said, pleased, "You are the arm, but who is the body? Who is the mind?"

Calmly, Link responded, "The body is the people we protect, and the mind is the council." He smiled again, "Tell me...who is the spirit?"

Nilila tilted her head to one side, biting her lip to keep from grinning back at him. She waited for him to answer his own question.

Link complied, "The goddesses are the spirit, Nilila."

Amused, she sat back in her seat and did not speak again. Her eyes became distant and her mind left the council room again.

"That voice who spoke to you, who was it?" Kadros jumped a little as Kasaka spoke suddenly. The other Sheikah glanced at him, but he was already looking back at Link.

"A goddess," Link responded.

With a raised eyebrow, Kasaka pressed on, "Which?"

"I'm not sure," Link said.

"Then what makes you sure that it was one?" Kasaka replied sharply. She was playing with a ring that was sewn into her belt - a sure sign that she was looking for an answer in particular.

"What does it matter," Sheik murmured, "Only the pure can wield the Master Sword. What purpose does this questioning serve?"

"I would ask you," Kasaka said, her dark magenta eyes flashing dangerously, "To keep your personal engagements from clouding your judgment." She was not fond of interruptions when she was speaking, and she was even less fond of romantic relationships during wartime.

"And I would ask you," the master healer said with a tight voice, "That you do not assume that I lack the control to do so."

"Enough," Janiv said, and raised a hand. Sheik and Kasaka fell silent. "I believe that it is necessary to examine the sword. I find it difficult to believe that you happened to find it when it is needed most."

Link took a breath and held it for a moment. It had appeared that he was listening intently to Janiv, but he held the same expression even though she had stopped speaking. His eyes were thoughtful and unfocused.

"Link," Viv said softly. She was avoiding looking at him for some reason.

Snapping back to alertness, Link straightened his posture. "I'm sorry. Perhaps I could hear of what has occurred during my time in the Sacred Realm? Nothing has been said to me."

Janiv gazed mildly at Link, but her thought reached out to touch the council members in the room. Kadros eventually felt an unformed question brush against his mind, and he offered a mental nod in response. The question left him and soon after, Kasaka sighed as she answered.

"Very well," Janiv said.

Surprisingly enough, Kadros found himself speaking first. He hadn't intended to dig into his past, especially with the loss of his sister being so recent, but it seemed the natural thing to do. Ferrai probably would have spoken of the war freely, and to honour her memory, he would too.

"I was from Kakariko, originally. After the Door of Time had been sealed and the Queen was sent into hiding, the village healers were sent to Castle Town, where the dead were many and the dying was quickly over-populating…."

…_The first time I had gone through the gates of Castle Town was when I was very young. It had been when my eyes had first turned and I was to meet the King of Hyrule. This time, however, I was lead through a side gate and around the first two sets of gates. Myself and Ferrai were brought to the Great Faerie of Magic, deep below the castle grounds. _

"_Thou who stand before me…this may be the last that we see of each other," The Great Faerie had said. She floated above the water, sitting cross-legged in midair. _

_There were no flowers in her hair, I remember, and her dress of vines and leaves seemed wilted. The curtains of light hanging across the walls shimmered dully, and the water beneath her barely rippled around her shadow. "I shall give thee the last of my healings... Thou must seal me away where the darkness cannot reach me… My strength will rest in thy limbs, and my power shall be safe from dangerous hands. When the Bane of Evil returns for me, only then shall I rise to these chambers again."_

_Sheik was with me, as was my sister Ferrai. There were seven others as well, but they have all died since then. We bowed before the Great Faerie of Magic, and she gave us our final blessing. _

"_Go with the light of life."_

_The walls fell dark, the water stilled, and the Great Faerie was gone. That was the last that we saw of her, or of her kind. Faerie fountains emptied across Hyrule, and healing pools ceased to replenish the flesh. It was the first great loss, and it was our greatest downfall… Without being able to use these sources of healing, suddenly our numbers dropped…and we were few to begin with..._

"…Back then, the Sheikah were born from bloodlines. Now, more and more of those who remain are the result of Eyes of Truth. Those who have seen the Truth gain our vows, and our spiritual strength and foresight, but few gain the power to heal."

Kadros hesitated before adding, "And those with the Eyes of Truth who can heal, can only heal themselves…unlike blood-born Sheikah. Their curse is the reverse of ours."

After a pause, Baero spoke next. "Castle Town went up in fire on the third night after Ganon left the Temple of Time. Two thirds were killed within the first two weeks. The rest fled into the countryside, and into other regions of Hyrule. Ganon cast a curse on the town, so that any who died there could never leave and would never rest in peace. Corpses rose in the ninth hour after death, and were free to walk the city streets." He stopped, rethinking his choice of words. "…Well, perhaps 'free' is too generous a word. They could not leave the city and they could not enter the Temple of Time…well, until recently, but at the time they feared the Temple more than they feared living in such agony…"

"Why do they fear the Temple?" Link asked, his eyes curious, but his voice bland.

"Ganon left us the Jewels of the Goddesses, having no further need for them. The corpses could not enter the Temple because of the shields of life that they create when in contact with one another. The reanimated corpses were stuck in-between life and death… Early on, we named them the ReDead…" Baero clenched his jaw tightly and said no more.

"What does water mean to you?" Nilila asked abruptly, lucid once more. She leaned over the table top to peer at Link closely. "Anything. What does it mean?"

"Life," Link said immediately, "Cleansing, reflection—"

"Reflection," Nilila repeated triumphantly. "I was an ambassador to the Zora when everything took a turn for the darkness, you know. We received messengers. The first told of Ganon and the Door of Time. The second and third practically slept in the same inn and arrived right after one another, telling of Castle Town and the Kokiri Forest. The earth shook for a week when the Mountain of the Gorons suddenly became explosive, and all passages to the Water Temple at Lake Hylia were suddenly impassible. I left Zora's Domain one morning, and returned the next week to find it encased in ice. "

She shuddered and Viv reached over to pull her back into her seat. "The water of Hyrule is stopped at the source. Water is difficult to keep, these days. It isn't as pure and doesn't last as long. We used to do ice runs to Zora's Domain, but it became too dangerous, and Ganon has a camp set up at the waterfall to harvest chunks for his armies…"

Her voice trailed off and with an apologetic smile, Viv said, "She wasn't always this bad, you know. After the business with Zora's Domain, she hasn't been…around, much. She loved the Zora very much, and often would visit the above-water site for their Temple. But after the water from the lake nearly emptied, she can't bear to go there anymore.. " She patted Nilila's hand and offered Link a chair that was off to one side.

Link shook his head and asked, "What else happened?"

"Well…" She thought for a moment, "After the Castle fell, Kakariko was nearly deserted, since the Sheikah were up and about, so Ganon didn't have any interest in burning it to the ground. He had made an attack early on in the war, but it was repelled. Any survivors of that battle scattered – Sheikah and Gerudo alike. The village was, in most respects, abandoned, and Ganon turned his attention elsewhere. There are Sheikah like myself and Nilila, and Sheik as well, who still live _underneath_ the village, because there are some things there that still need to be minded. Occasionally there are raids from the Dark King, but I think it's mostly to make sure that we say away from Kakariko."

She stood and walked around the table to where Link stood. Carefully, she examined the sword on Link's back, paying careful attention to the jewel. "May a draw it?" She asked.

"I don't know if you should," Link said, turning to face her. "I do not wish you harm."

"I know," Viv said, with a small bright smile. "But may I draw it for a moment? Janiv wishes to see if it is real, and I think it is best if we all do."

Hesitantly, Link pulled the scabbard from his back and offered the sword to her hilt, first.

"Have no fear," Viv murmured, and placed her hand on the hilt. The air around her lit up, with a wind that blew to all corners of the chamber. Link's eyes were wide, and the jewel on the sword lit gold for a second. Viv slid the sword from the scabbard a few inches – enough to reveal the golden writing on the blade – and then pushed it back in. She released the sword, and the light faded and the wind died down.

Link stared at her in shock, his hands loose around the Master Sword; as if he were unsure if his was his to hold any longer.

"I tell no lies, see no lies, do no evil," Viv explained, and took the sword from him. It brightened slightly, and she turned Link around so she could attach it to his belt again. "My sight is clear and my heart is pure. In theory I could wield this sword, Link, but I do not think that it would recognize me as its master." She patted him on the cheek and smiled. "It is destined for you, not I. Before the council I do state that you are a Child of Destiny, and that is the Master Sword."

"Thank you," Link said, quietly, and she went back to her seat.

Janiv watched him thoughtfully for a moment. Baero shared a glance with Kasaka, and the twins looked as if they were in deep thought. Kadros distractedly listened to them murmur among themselves, but his focus was on Link. The Hylian had drawn the Master Sword again, but there weren't any bright lights and holy winds. He pressed the tip of the blade into the casing between stones on the floor. Firmly wedged into the Temple floor, Link rested his hands on the pommel of the sword and waited for the Council to make their announcement.

Someone nudged Kadros' mind. It was Sheik, channeling to him through Bedira. '_Janiv is talking to you.'_

Kadros lifted his gaze to the woman leading the Council. She was talking to Baero, but Kadros could hear her voice slide into his thoughts.

'_And you, Kadros? Do you believe in him? That he can use the Master Sword?"_

'_I believe in him,_' Kadros replied, '_I would have trusted my sister to him.'_

'_I see. Thank you.'_

Her thought left him, and her gaze turned to the rest of the Sheikah in turn. Then, to Kadros's shock, she lifted her head, turned to Link and said, "You must go to the Castle and face Ganon. With the Bane of Evil you can defeat him!" Janiv stood, signaling that the meeting was over. "This is your task, Hero of Time."

Kadros glanced around the table: Sheik looked uneasy and Viv seemed to be troubled about the decision as well. Nilila's eyes were glazed over and Kasaka was fiercer than ever. The rest appeared neutral, though Kadros knew that only the twins were truthful with this.

"You cannot ask me to do this," Link said, his voice wobbling for a moment. "Ganon has control of the lands, if I were to kill him, Hyrule would have nothing to draw on – the Domain is frozen, the mountain erupts-"

"He must be stopped," Janiv said shortly, cutting him off. "He kills villages and pollutes the very soul of Hyrule! Link, we do not have the numbers or the resources to continue this campaign. You say you are the Hero of Time, and a Child of Destiny. With the Master Sword you must go to him and destroy the King of Evil!"

"I think not," Link almost-growled.

Kadros hesitated to speak out, rubbing a thumb over the jutting pattern of the chair arm. He suddenly felt very small in Link's presence, sensing a disturbing change in the Hylian. The hero stilled, head tilting forward to rest on his chest, eyes falling half-shut. His arms slowly relaxed at his side, stance still remaining in a defensive posture. The Sheikah gathered drew in their breath at the same time, together shuddering, as the torches in the chamber blew out. Filtered light dimly lit the room through the curtained window.

Janiv was the first to release words into the tense silence. "This is unnecessary dramatics, Link." She said. "Our decision is final."

Link opened his mouth, head rising from its former neutral position. "Your reasoning is flawed, Janiv." Link's voice echoed strangely; the tone was an octave deeper and oddly pitched. There was a bizarre humming underneath his words, and it whispered long after he had finished speaking. "The logic of this Council, though just and noble in its intentions, is not what is best for the lands of Hyrule. You must reconsider."

"Through what authority do you claim to oppose the rule of the Council?" Kasaka said sharply, narrow eyes thinning further, giving the impression that she was squinting at him. "Will you deny Hyrule the opportunity to be saved?

"This man comes in the authority of the dead," Link said, offering his gaze to the members of the council around him. A few gasped, seeing the emptiness of the now-black irises. "He serves me as you do. I came to him in the place of the Sacred Realm, and he has accepted his fate freely. He now acts as a conductor for me to speak through." Link turned to the twins, sitting stoically side-by-side. "I greet you, voyant."

Bedira and Beni bowed their heads in unison, the first two fingers of their right hand pressed to the palm of their left in what looked like a variation of a praying gesture. "We greet you, All Seeing Shadow," they said together, "and express gratitude for the grace you have blessed us with."

Link nodded to them, mimicking their hand position. He turned back to Janiv and Baero, both of whom were tightly gripping the hand rests of their seats. "Send the Jewels of Power to the forest, colossus and lake. … Ganon cannot be separated from Hyrule any longer – he must be sealed away within the Sacred Realm that his dark heart has created. Only then will you slow the flow into my realms." Link's face twisted in psychic pain. "I wish no more of my children to join me before their rightful time."

"So this is the darkness that Link spoke of," Baero said softly. "The Great Darkness that is neither good nor evil."

"The Shadow Beast," Kadros murmured.

Even Kasaka added to the titles, "The Eye That Sees the Truth."

Link graced them all with a long look, before settling on Janiv once more. "You must reverse what was done, those long years ago," He repeated. "Return the Goddess Jewels to where the guardian races reside, and life will return o the land of Hyrule. It will begin to heal itself, and then you may be able to confront the Dark King himself."

"And," Link added, with a dark touch of humour, "This decision is final."

The colour washed back into Link's eyes, bursting out in sapphire veins of blue. Pupils dilated into almost nonexistence, and then returned to their normal appearance. Link rocked forward, and the Master Sword dug deeper into the space between the floor tiles. His knees buckled for a moment, but then he steadied. Returning to his full stature, he worked the Master Sword's tip out of the floor and sheathed it.

"May I rest somewhere?" Link asked in a weary tone.

Janiv nodded as the lanterns relit themselves. "This meeting is closed."

"Thank you," Link murmured, half to himself.

* * *

A/N: If you're curious about what the Eye called Bedira and Beni, (voyant) it's just French for 'seer.' 


End file.
